Trading Spaces By Cheryl Jarvis Feature Ditching the Midwest for Southern California on the heels of a crushing divorce, the last thing Cheryl Jarvis wants is her 26-year old son for a roomie.
How to Pitch Personal Essays to Longreads: An Updated Guide By Sari Botton Highlight New submissions guidelines, plus information about our new essay series.
Self Portrait With iPhone By Pam Mandel Feature Newly single in her mid-50s, Pam Mandel swipes through dozens of selfies, including her own.
Molly and the Unicorn By Emily Flake Feature Emily Flake reflects on the shifting nature of magic and power in middle age.
How I Got My Shrink Back By Susan Shapiro Feature An entanglement with her shrink-stalking protege teaches Susan Shapiro something about forgiveness.
Searching Sephora for an Antidote to Aging — and Grief By Abby Mims Feature Five years after her mother’s death, while still grieving and suddenly middle-aged, Abby Mims turns to beauty products to cure what ails her.
We Are All We Have By Megan Stielstra Feature While caring for her mother post-surgery and her grandmother during her final days, Megan Stielstra wonders who’s really taking care of who.
The Art of Losing Friends and Alienating People By Laura Lippman Feature Laura Lippman, admittedly a rotten friend, is bummed by the ways in which friendships end as one gets older.
Learning from Perimenopause and a Kpop Idol By Wendy Gan Feature Struggling with fluctuating hormones, Wendy Gan is inspired by the musician Mino to stop muting herself and return to writing.
I’m 72. So What? By Catherine Texier Feature Catherine Texier pushes back against society’s dated ideas about older women, claiming her place among those who are determined to remain vibrant and relevant in the last decades of their lives.
Old Dudes On Skateboards By Aaron Gilbreath Feature The death of his life-long skateboarding friend prompts Aaron Gilbreath to get back on his board — at 44, with his toddler daughter in tow.
Hello, Forgetfulness; Hello, Mother By Max Feature Peering into the mirror of her mother, Marcia Aldrich wonders whether she too is sentenced to dementia.
Keeping My Promise to Popo By Anne Liu Kellor Feature As Anne Liu Kellor says goodbye to her Chinese grandmother in the hospital, she taps into buried memories and family trauma.
What’s Happening to My Body? By Devorah Heitner Feature Devorah Heitner reflects on the ways she is reclaiming her relationship to her own body while grappling with the legacy of her mother’s poor body image and early death.
Conversations with My Loveliest By Melissa Berman Feature Melissa Berman recalls what was said, and not said, between her and her beloved aunt as they approached her final year.
Whole 60 By Laura Lippman Feature The Laura Lippman plan requires that you eat whatever you want whenever you want to eat it, and declare yourself beautiful. We’re not going to lie — it’s really hard.
Father’s Little Helper By Scott Korb Feature While under the influence of Valium, Scott Korb reflects on all the fathers he could have been and the father he has become.
Game of Crones By Laura Lippman Feature It wasn’t entirely Laura Lippman’s idea to become a mother in her 50s. But when it happened, she leaned in hard.
To Grieve Is to Carry Another Time By Matthew Salesses Feature Matthew Salesses considers the impact of his wife’s passing, and other factors, on his experience as a human passing through the fourth dimension.
Bracing for the Silence of an Empty Nest By Michelle Cruz Gonzales Feature As her son finishes high school and prepares to leave for college, Michelle Cruz Gonzales looks back on his early years as a pianist and anticipates a future without the sound of his playing filling the house.
Barely There By Jennifer Baker Feature Jennifer Baker considers the ways in which hair removal rituals, begun in her tween years, have helped her achieve body acceptance and connect with her own desire.
Everything is Fine By Sara Fredman Feature Sara Fredman thinks about the voices in her life as she raises young children and reckons with her fading father.
Johnny Rotten, My Mom, and Me By Kimberly Mack Feature Kimberly Mack recalls the ways in which rock music bonded her with her African American mom, and how those fierce sounds helped them cope with the poverty, violence, and despair both outside and inside their Brooklyn home.
Every Day I Write the Book By Michael Musto Feature At 63, Michael Musto reveals how he keeps managing to add new chapters to the consistently unfolding story of his career.
Elegy in Times Square By Lily Burana Feature A former teenage peep show girl looks back on a queer love story that began in New York’s notorious red-light district.
A Portrait of the Mother as a Young Girl By Marlene Adelstein Feature Marlene Adelstein finds herself transported back in time and consciousness via an inherited painting.
‘Emerging’ as a Writer — After 40 By Jenny Bhatt Feature Jenny Bhatt recalls the rites of passage that led to her shift in identity from corporate executive to woman writer of color.
The Wrong Pair By Lisa W. Rosenberg Feature After decades of shame, discrimination in the ballet world, and some serious back pain, Lisa W. Rosenberg concludes it’s time to down-size her double-E knockers.
Dress You Up in My Love By Doree Shafrir Feature Doree Shafrir reflects on how Halloween changed for her after struggling with infertility.
