The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.

Only by acceptance of the past, can you alter it.

These fragments I have shored against my ruins

The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence

They were preparing a nice meal for Dayna Curry, whose birthday was on the 4th (of November), ... Over the past few days it had been relatively quiet in Kabul proper and I think emotionally they had all come to develop a sense of resignation that they were in for the long haul, that they were doing OK emotionally but they certainly did want to get out of there as soon as they could.

The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.