Turning 50

Yuill.ca
  • 0.0 (0)
  • PERSONAL JOURNALS
  • MONTHLY SERIES

Hosted by Mathieu Yuill, Turning 50 is a series of short reflections from midlife, a collection of personal reflections on memory, meaning, and the moments that shape us. From friendships and family stories to quiet revelations and life’s turning points, each episode is a snapshot of where we’ve been and what we carry with us into the next chapter.

Season 1

  1. EPISODE 1

    The Music That Made Us

    For his 50th birthday, my brother-in-law made something quietly brilliant. A playlist with one song for every year he’s been alive. But it wasn’t just a greatest hits list. He arranged it like a story. A life set to music. He and a few friends swapped their own “50 songs for 50 years” playlists, and I still find myself queuing his up on long drives or lazy Saturday mornings. It’s more than music. It’s a glimpse into who he is. That idea, the soundtrack of a life, got me thinking about mine. Not just the songs I liked, but the ones that helped shape me. That connected me to people and moments I still carry. So in this first episode of *Turning 50*, I go back to where it started. For me, that’s 1989. My sister’s Sinead O’Connor cassette. Conversations on a cottage beach about album tracks that never made it to the radio. Then came high school band rooms turned into impromptu Nirvana jam sessions, friendships rekindled by obscure band shirts, and cassette swaps at youth camps. And of course, the festivals. The sweat, the sun, the windows down drives, and the arguments about which band stole the show. […]

    13 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    The Chairs We Sit In

    In the corner of my parents’ living room sits a brown leather Lay-Z-Boy. My dad’s chair. You always knew when he was in it. The leather would sigh, the footrest would clunk, and tucked under the cushion were brochures for Dodge minivans. He never told us not to sit in it, we just didn’t. It was his spot. After he passed, the chair sat empty. Not as a rule, just out of respect. Eventually someone sat in it again, and it didn’t feel wrong. It felt like life quietly making room for someone new. Almost everyone I talked to had their version of that chair. A squeaky recliner. A couch corner no one else dared claim. These chairs aren’t just furniture, they’re memory holders. Anchors for routines, relationships, and sometimes grief. At our house now, we’ve got two gray stools at the kitchen counter. We pictured morning coffees, quiet chats, fresh baking under one of those diner-style glass domes. But they mostly sit empty. The counter’s a drop zone for mail and chargers. We gather in the other room instead. Those chairs? They’re not failures. They’re reminders of the things we meant to make time for. Some chairs we sit […]

    12 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    The Shelves We Fill

    If you walk into my office, your eyes will probably land on the shelves. Rows of books I’ve collected over the years sit alongside a honeybee painting, a Lego DeLorean, a vintage-style Lego typewriter, and a little flip clock my wife once found after I mentioned how much I loved it. There’s also a Made to Stick copy that shaped how I think about communication—and a Hallmark Jesus doll my sister and nieces gave me when I finished my doctorate. Equal parts cheesy and thoughtful, which, if I’m honest, is my favorite combination. Every shelf tells a story. The DeLorean? Nostalgia and possibility—a reminder that imagination should go somewhere, preferably at 88 miles per hour. Statler and Waldorf, the Lego Muppets? My friend Brad and I keep them on our desks as proof that sarcasm counts as a love language. And then there’s Grimace, the jolly purple blob from my McDonald’s days, laser-focused on joy and milkshakes. Most of us have something like that—a shelf, a wall, a box—where the artifacts of our lives quietly collect. A friend of mine has her husband’s childhood microscope mounted in a collage of art and objects. It’s beautiful, not just because it looks […]

    11 min
  • 3 Episodes

About

Hosted by Mathieu Yuill, Turning 50 is a series of short reflections from midlife, a collection of personal reflections on memory, meaning, and the moments that shape us. From friendships and family stories to quiet revelations and life’s turning points, each episode is a snapshot of where we’ve been and what we carry with us into the next chapter.

Information

  • Creator
    Yuill.ca
  • Episodes
    3
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Mathieu Yuill
  • Show Website
    Turning 50