Archive - Personal Essays of Oldster Magazine

The Last Lecture

Shawn Assael talks to his retirement-resistant 88-year-old dad about what it means to stop working.

Apr 15 •

Notes On Another New Life #14

Pressing the Pause Button

Apr 11 •

Know Your Nonagenarians

At 75, Melanie Chartoff is grateful to have older, wiser mentors.

Apr 8 •

Melanie Chartoff

A Word to the Unwise

Confessions of a grieving fool.

Apr 1 •

Shalom Auslander

March 2024

It's a Long Way Down

"Like hundreds of thousands of men in their early 60s across the country, I was forced to start to get used to the idea that the marketplace may be…

Mar 25 •

(Don't) Act Your Age

"Who ruled that I shouldn't be on a skateboard? Who decreed that this type of fun was over for me? I don't want to actually be younger..."

Mar 18 •

Notes On Another New Life #13

Start in the middle and fail to arrive.

Mar 14 •

A Birthday Spent Mostly Alone—but not Lonely

An excerpt of David W. Berner's forthcoming "Daylight Saving Time: The Power of Growing Older"

Mar 11 •

David W. Berner

Letter To My Younger Self # 6: “Don’t take things personally. And meditate!”

After emerging from a difficult year that reminds her of an earlier hard time, 61-year-old musician Ann Klein gives her 7-year-old self a pep talk.

Mar 7 •

On Longevity, and the Stubborn Gene

Julie Metz witnesses the defiant aging of her father and his second wife and contemplates how her own relationship to risky hiking has changed.

Mar 4 •

February 2024

Fifty-five and Still a Nomad

Six years ago poet Todd Boss embraced the flexibility of "work-from-home" by becoming a middle-aged globe-trotter, bouncing from one temporary residence…

Feb 26 •

I Don't Want to Grow Up

Neverland and the utopia of childhood.

Feb 19 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts