A terrific piece in the February 2014 New Yorker somehow escaped me. It was by Roger Angell, a writer I greatly admire. “This Old Man (Life in the nineties)” is the essay’s title. It’s an exploration of the glories and defeats of old age, but it’s also a textbook example of how to create a work that’s both “in the moment” yet clearly capable of a long, honorable shelf life.
On a not-so-dissimilar topic, had a long overdue conversation this evening with my soon-to-be eighty-eight-year-old father. His voice sounded good, strong and confident. The things we talked about were mundane—football, family, times we’ve spent together in the mountains—but I suspect they’ll stay with me for a long, long time. With luck, maybe forever.