Ah, nostalgia, our bittersweet friend. I get nostalgic more than I probably should, mostly when I think about how simple life was when my siblings and I were still so young, playing around the house and waiting by the front door every Friday night for our grandma to come over. She used to bring us apple tarts from a French bakery, and now apple-type pastries just remind me of her. That said, nostalgia looks and feels different for everyone, so when redditor u/thefrustratedpoet asked people over 50 to share what nostalgia looks like to them, I was completely captivated by the replies. Here are some of the most wholesome, fond, and wistful responses:
1. "I feel a certain fondness whenever I remember going out on Friday and Saturday nights when I was in college. There were no cellphones, so without firm plans, you'd have to basically go hunt down whoever you wanted to find by cruising through every party. You could ask people if they'd seen so-and-so, but if you were trying to look casual and ask about a crush, you'd blow up your game. A drinking night could potentially mean a LOT of walking since there were no Ubers or anything back then, but it was kind of fun."
2. "I get nostalgic whenever I think about the gang of neighborhood kids that were always doing something together, even if that something was extremely dangerous or stupid. Everyone in the neighborhood had everyone else's phone numbers (thanks, phone book), and the last thing anyone wanted was for a neighbor to call your mom and tell her that you were up to no good. There's a parking lot where my childhood home used to be. I can't even drive through the neighborhood anymore because it hurts my head."
3. "Sitting at the table and having conversations gives me a feeling of nostalgia. Us kids talked about school, our parents talked about work, and then we all conversed about current events and even sometimes gossiped. We didn't have cellphones, computers, or TV to occupy our time during family-time dinners."
4. "Whenever I walk through an antique store, I always get wistful when I see the exact things my family used to have back in the day. Whether it's similar-looking dishes or just everyday household objects that aren't commonly used in modern-day life, it makes me feel a type of way."
5. "Corner stores — where you knew everyone's name and they knew yours. Other things that make me feel nostalgic are the neighborhood kids playing Jailbreak and 10-cent comic books stacked in the closet of my childhood bedroom."
6. "I miss the morning papers. Dad would get the sports, Mom would get lifestyle and the front page, and I would get the comics. We used to sit around together, and my parents would read to me until I eventually could read on my own."
7. "Nostalgia feels simultaneously good and disconcerting. Listening to music from my teenage years or watching TV shows from my youth makes me feel young again — until I remember that they're about 50 years old. The music and media I grew up with is ancient to the kids nowadays, and that doesn't feel good at all."
8. "Nostalgia feels like talking on the phone with your friends, with the cord stretched all the way into the next room. We'd talk for hours, and because of the phone book, we'd always pull a bunch of prank calls."
9. "Nostalgia is more about smells and sounds for me. The sound of a train in the distance, peepers singing in the evening, the smell of sewing machine oil from my mother's sewing machine cabinet, the smell of cherry pipe tobacco that my grandfather used to smoke — all of these will stop me dead in my tracks."
10. "Nostalgia feels like good, enjoyable, and comfortable memories. And sometimes, those memories motivate me to get off my butt and do some of the things that I used to do all the time. One time, I fixed a transceiver that'd been sitting in my garage for over 30 years. Another time, I fixed up a radio my grandfather had given me as a kindergarten present. I use my dad's tools, and whenever I go through them, I say, 'Hey, Dad, I remember you.' And I really do."
11. "Knowing the people in my neighborhood by name. All the adults knew each other and even hung out. There was trust in society back then that doesn't exist anymore."
12. "I feel nostalgic for the '60s and '70s because, despite it being a highly turbulent period personally and politically, it made me who I am today. Both decades had a profound effect on my life for different reasons. The good times were the best, and the bad times were pretty bad, but they both formed me. Whenever another friend of mine passes away, I always go back to '60s music to try and break out of the sadness. That time period resonates with my soul."
13. "For me, I remember experiences. I vividly remember seeing Star Wars and Alien in theaters for the first time, and I also remember the thrill of saving up my allowance to buy a vinyl record album."
14. "When it comes to nostalgia, sometimes I feel sad — like when a beloved actor you grew up with passes away. Whenever that happens, I'm reminded of my own mortality. However, other times I feel happy — the kind of happiness that makes me feel comfortable in my own skin. One example that comes to mind is when I got a job after I graduated school. I'd started looking for a job in 1987, and on that first day, I landed a job that I ended up staying with for seven years."
15. "Nostalgia is Saturday morning cartoons, riding bikes with my friends through tree-lined streets, rushing home to catch the Saturday matinee (it was almost always a monster movie), collecting glass soda bottles to pay for a Dilly Bar at Dairy Queen, and sneaking down the hallway to spy while my parents watched Night Gallery."
16. "I'm American, and whenever I feel optimistic, I also feel nostalgia. While problems in this country were legion and huge, solutions seemed within our grasp (Civil Rights, the ending of the Vietnam War, the introduction of the EPA). There was a genuine feeling that if we worked hard enough, we could change things — it was possible. Yeah, people had different views, but at the end of the day, we were all Americans. No, it wasn't a utopia, but at least the default emotion wasn't always visceral hatred. I feel like the younger generation is screwed, and they know it. They're in survival mode, and it's heartbreaking to see. People want change, but I feel like the optimism of it ever happening is mostly gone. I hope not — maybe it's just my old eyes and me — but it feels that way."
17. "I really, REALLY miss listening to the John Peel Show. Throughout the '70s, his show was the best thing on the radio by far. He was miles ahead of everyone else, and no one could touch him when it came to taste and influence."
18. "It's driving by the swings where my best friend and I pretended we were Apollo astronauts. That was more than 50 years ago, but I feel it all the same."
19. "It's not so much a particular time, but the people and places. I think of places that used to be affordable to the middle and lower class that have now become rich people's playgrounds. I think of charming old buildings that were torn down for parking lots or new construction that isn't in any way unique or even half as good as what it's replacing. I think of fields that used to be full of wildflowers, trees, or blackberries, and are now just ugly strip malls. Most of all, I think about the people I've lost over the years, and how much I wish I could pick up the phone and call them so that we could laugh. I'm nostalgic for the things that only I can remember now."
20. "I just remember good times in the '70s — there was always good music playing all the time. I loved disco, my mom and dad were young (in their 20s), and everything just felt fun and carefree."
21. "Lately, I've been feeling nostalgic over when we had more space and fewer people. The world population has doubled in the 50 years I've been alive, and you can feel it. There are too many people everywhere, and I don't even live in a crowded city. The state park? There's a LINE to get in on weekend mornings, and there are barely any parking spaces. And the historical sites? They're falling apart because so many people visit. I just miss when places were more easily accessible."
22. "I only feel nostalgic when it comes to nature — like remembering a forest that was cleared to make room for a subdivision, or when a new highway cuts through what used to be a farmland. Recently, I was sitting by the river watching a seal eat a fish, and I felt nostalgic because that river used to have millions of salmon. Now, it effectively has none. Most of the seals are gone, too."
23. "I miss being a kid in the country. We did everything outside, and there were always other people out and about. I didn't have to stick by my mom and dad, and there were no rules about where I could or couldn't go. Sometimes I'll catch a whiff of petrichor during certain times of the year, and I get transported right back to being a kid in the '70s. It's only for the briefest of moments, but I end up reflecting anyway."
24. Lastly: "Nostalgia is so many things. This morning, I used a freesia-scented conditioner that smelled very similar to sweet olive, which is a tree that grew next to my parents' front porch and bloomed in the fall. It smelled the strongest either in the still air of early mornings or during sunset. Nostalgia is also sitting at a treadle sewing machine, where sometimes I hear my grandmother instructing me to 'rip' a seam and redo it because it's not straight. During those moments, everything feels the same as it did long ago — the same type of machine, the same slightly squeaky treadle, and the same uncomfortable stool. The only difference is that I'm 40 years older, and my grandmother is long gone. Nostalgia brings us together, but time rips us apart."
No matter your age, what makes you feel nostalgic? What does nostalgia mean to you? I'm interested to know, so comment below or leave an anonymous response using this anonymous form.
Note: Some of these responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.