A word of dialog stuck with me, from 2009's version of Grey Gardens. Drew-Barrymore-as-Edith-Bouvier-Beale says "If" to Jeanne-Tripplehorn-as-Jacqueline-Bouvier-Kennedy.
"If" in context of "If Joe Kennedy, Jr hadn't died, then I 'd be First Lady".
Although I'd pay top dollar to see how Little Edie's might have decorated The White House, I'm way more interested in the seemingly-innocuous, two letter word.
Ifs attempt to alter the past, in order to revise the present. Ifs can, quite obviously, be futile wishes, but are hopeful ones, too.
Edith Bouvier Beale of Grey Gardens: A Life in Pictures (2008) interprets the priviledge of a young lady; a document of the chain of her life's events until the moment just before she steps to the other side of the looking glass.