Like the path that starts with a "simple" system of "soft deletes" for Foo records, which progresses through a period of developer-assisted "restores" or merges

Like the path that starts with a "simple" system of "soft deletes" for Foo records, which progresses through a period of developer-assisted "restores" or merges, and then they want even older info, and to make reports... However it would have all been so much easier if they'd realized their business domain called for "Foo Revisions" in the first place.