I just finished some site reconnaissance work in the Western Highlands in preparation for an upcoming mission. On two of the sites I visited, I actually conducted the initial investigations in 2006. It doesn't seem that long ago, but when I met the witness for one of the cases, I didn't recongize him. As a matter of fact, I thought that my counterparts had located the wrong witness. Ends up, after going through my old photos, that this is the right witness, he just looks a lot older. It got me to thinking how seven years makes such a great difference between your sixties and seventies, and yet we just fritter our years away in our twenties and nothing seems to change. I got to thinking how much difference seven years will make when I reach my mid sixties and it made me sad. It made me even more sad when I pulled out the photo of myself with the witness seven years ago; noting the witness is not the only one who looks older.
I guess the key is to be happy with the way you spend your time. Growing old is one of the most natural things in the world and there are some perks to it, like seeing your child learn and be successful.
Anyway, I am heading to Saigon and the Mekong Delta region today. Fortunately, I haven't done any previous work on those sites, so I won't be saddened by any ageing I have done.
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