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Mari Katherine Raftopoulos

Mari Katherine Raftopoulos' column appears in the Craig Daily Press and the Saturday Morning Press.

We all remember our high school prom, eighth-grade graduation, and freshman year spring break wishing that sometimes we could just relive those moments because those were special times.

And if these moments weren't so bittersweet, they wouldn't have so much significance nor would they pass so quickly. Because the quickness in which they pass makes them real.

Our lives are a collection of these moments. For some, their collection is like an antique record collection. They leave the collection in the attic never taking notice to the dust accumulation because they never replay these moments.

Others might have a country collection, the kind that is constantly on repeat in their car.

Because they sing about the past as a lesson for their future.

The song "Cowgirl Don't Cry" might be found in this collection, with its lyric, "Lessons in life are gonna show you in time. Soon enough you are gonna know why."

We never know when these lessons come in handy, but they do eventually, and that is the beauty.

No matter what your collection of moments resembles, they all influence change.

Some people fear change. Others embrace the beauty of change and the growth. And they look back on those moments with thanks and appreciation. While some may never want to change, others are always changing. Changing for the better.

Change is simply elegant. Each moment flows together like a lovely melody, a smooth hand of blackjack, or a nothing but net shot, through this we are creating change.

The melody changing your two step, the blackjack changing your luck, and the shot changing your confidence.

There is a point in your life when you go back.

The return to this point is a temptation to relive the moments and forget about change.

It is the temptation of comfort that makes you want to regress. It makes you want to be the small-town country girl again when she has become a part of your collection.

Each time back represents a time forward.

Each time your childhood closet gets smaller, your sheets have changed patterns, and suddenly your photos look younger.

It takes four months away to three years gone to realize some things change while others remain.