Age: 50 - 65

The essays below were written by people between 50 and 65 years of age.

March 25, 2019

Respect Yourself

As a father, David Westwood has found that life isn't so complicated when deciding on the very basics of life that need to be taught to our children. For Westwood, one of those basics is that we must learn self-respect before we can gain respect for others.
January 28, 2019

Pennies from Heaven

After 43 years of marriage, native Texan Reg Stark lost his wife, Linda, to cancer. Ever since, he has been finding pennies everywhere he goes. Stark believes each coin he discovers is a sign that Linda is still with him and still looking out for him.
January 21, 2019

The Power of Words

On August 28, 1963, Benita Porter went with her mother to attend the March on Washington. It was during Dr. King’s spellbinding message of hope, love, and the universality of mankind that Ms. Porter was inspired by the belief that words—her own words—could arouse passion, change minds, and bring about social change.
November 5, 2018

An Act of Faith in America

When citizens in Michael Seifert’s Texas border town couldn’t get respect from local elected officials, they didn’t get angry. They got organized. Seifert and his neighbors discovered that voting was the best tool they had to improve to their community.
September 3, 2018

Standing Up for Our Children

As the former highest-ranking official in California's elementary and secondary public school system, Delaine Eastin believes that investing in children's education is not just the right thing to do, but also a patriotic necessity.
May 21, 2018

The Secrets of Life

From the 1950s series, Egyptian-born Ahmad Zaki Abu Shadi tells how he left his homeland to gain spiritual and intellectual liberty. The artist and scientist believed freedom was a synonym for life itself, and a precious treasure deserved by all.
April 2, 2018

The Real Consequences of Justice

NPR listener and social work professor Frederic Reamer finds his belief in justice tested every time he faces criminals and victims at parole board hearings in his home state of Rhode Island.
March 19, 2018

A Morning Prayer In A Little Church

From 1952, Oscar-winning actress Helen Hayes explains that in spite of her theatrical success, it took the death of her daughter to teach her the interdependence of humanity and the need for more compassion.
March 5, 2018

Roll Away the Stone

Even in the face of possible nuclear war, Nobel Prize-winning writer Pearl S. Buck finds her faith in humanity to be stronger than ever, and believes that cooperation can solve the world’s problems.