Same Old

I look at some old photos of myself and I think that I haven't changed much.

When I found this photo of me, lounging on the dock at my in-laws' cottage, I think that it couldn't have been that long ago. But then a couple of things strike me:

• I haven't worn that shirt in more than a decade. I bought it in Thailand, in 1998. But a few years after wearing it, I accidentally put it in the dryer and it shrunk to a size that wouldn't have fit me at my thinnest. I haven't seen it in more than 15 years.
• Same goes for the sunglasses. I haven't seen them in years. I think they were broken at some point.
• I'm reading a book without reading glasses, something I haven't been able to do in more than a decade.
• While my hair style hasn't changed much in the past 20 years, I certainly have more grey in it. And there isn't any in this photo.

The photo was shot in 1999, in the summer that DW and I returned home from our two-year stint in South Korea. This was a time before we had kids—probably why I was able to read in peace.

With perfect vision.

In a much-loved shirt.

It's the same old me, and yet so much has changed since that summer day, almost 23 years ago.

Happy Thursday!