I'm a planner. Always have been, always will be. When our family takes a vacation, every detail of the trip is mapped out with the precision of a space launch. We know exactly when and where we're going to have fun, and how much (“oh-nine-hundred-hours — hug Mickey Mouse, experience 33.4 seconds of glee”).

But sometimes, I'm coming to realize, it's best not to look ahead so hard. As I get older and grayer, I start to wonder if it isn't just as important to look in the rear-view mirror and pay attention to where we've come from. The future will rush over us whether we want it to or not, but it's all too easy for the past to slip away. We spend so much time wondering, “What will it be like?” that we forget to ask, “What was it like?”