Ten years dropped from a man's life are no small loss; ten years of manhood, of household happiness and care; ten years of honest labor, of conscious enjoyment of sunshine and outdoor beauty; ten years of grateful life--one day looking forward to all this; the next, waking to find them passed, and a blank.
Mary Mapes Dodge (1866). “Hans Brinker: Or, The Silver Skates, a Story of Life in Holland”, p.262
