Kalani Staudacher
I believe in the power of memories. I’ve always loved the word “memory”, how it sounds and what it means. To me, memories seem like the most important thing we can have, something that makes up who we are. They hold so much power over our emotions and our choices. Over and over again, throughout my life I have marveled at this.
I remember once when my parents gave me a book that I loved. It was so familiar to me: the cover, the font, the memories of all the times that I had read it. I used to check it out from the library constantly, yet by then I hadn’t read it in years. As I held it in my hands, a wave of nostalgia hit me. Sitting on my bed, I realized that reading this book wouldn’t be the same as it had been when I was younger.
There’s a saying that goes, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” We can’t ever recapture our past, no matter how hard we try. Everything in the world is constantly changing, and we’re changing right along with it. When I looked at that book, I remembered how I felt when I used to read it. I was reminded of who I was before.
This is why memories are so important. They remind us of who we used to be, what we should learn from, and who we should try to become. When I looked at that book, I realized that we are made up of our memories. Life is just made up of little moments and they pass by so fast. Soon they’ll either fade or they’ll become memories, too. We should treasure these experiences and use them to guide us in the future.
When I was younger, I used to treasure the passing of every year, because it meant I was getting older. This was easy, because then the years went by so slowly that it made me impatient. But now they’re speeding into a blur. I know one day I’ll look back on myself now with the same sentiment I felt when rereading that book, because that’s the same way I feel about my younger self now. These memories we have, I believe in them, and their power to remind us of who we were. The future never comes and the present is always slipping through our fingers. But our past will always be there for us, to show us how we’ve grown, and who we can become.