If you wrote a message to your future self to be read 25 years from now, what would you write? If you handwrote what you wanted to accomplish over this period of time what goals would you set? If you talked to a video camera about life as you know it and life as you hope it would be, what would you say?
If you then put items representative of your life today into a time capsule to be opened two and a half decades from now, what items would you put in it?
In essence, what you’d be doing is freezing time. It’s an interesting exercise. Whatever you seal in the time capsule is irreversible and can’t be changed. The future world, a quarter of a century more experienced, would open what you sealed and then reflect back on the world as it was when you closed the capsule.
It was August of 1996 when my family did this. My wife, my two children, and I filled a time capsule. We were building a new home and the builders were about to put up sheet rock and seal the insulation in the walls.
We chose a wall in my study closet and decided to fill two small plastic containers with as many items as we could to be sealed into the wall to be opened 25 years later.
My son Devin was 9, my daughter Kelsey Brynn was 7, my wife Tanya was 39, and I was 37. As we prepared the time capsule, we planned to be 64, 63, 34, and 33 on the Thanksgiving Day 2021 when it was to be opened.
We each wrote out our goals and what we hoped would occur in the next two and a half decades. At the time we did it, we weren’t even sure all four of us would still be around when the day came to open the capsule. That was our prayer when we closed the time capsule, that our family would be protected over the next 25 years.
We each strategically chose items and documents that reflected who we were and gathered them together. Some items were more sentimental than others. Then we made a video tape where we talked to the camera. It was quite a process. We filled two 10 inch by 14 inch plastic containers because they would fit neatly in the wall between two studs.
After writing and talking to our future selves, we sealed the containers and on Monday, August 19, 1996 and handed them to the builder. The sun came up the next day and we went on with our lives.
The plan was to have a family gathering on Thanksgiving Day, 2021 with our family and any additions and open the time capsule together. But our plans changed. We’ve been building a new home that will be finished by mid year 2021. We knew we would no longer be in the current home on our planned opening day. So we decided to open the time capsule on Christmas Eve 2020, our last family gathering before the move.
We had the sheet rock cut from around the time capsule a week before Christmas. We then waited for our family to arrive. On Christmas Eve, my two children pulled the plastic treasure troves out of the wall and, with our son-in-law Wes, we sat down in the living room to travel back in time.
We will never forget our family experience the next hour and a half.
Devin and Kelsey Brynn opened the containers with anticipation of what they had put into them. One by one items were removed and commented on. I do not remember putting so many items into the capsule; there must have been 50 things that were pulled out of the containers.
My son was a big Sonic fan. He pulled out two Sonic comics as well as half a dozen of his drawings of Sonic. He had put in a Ninja Turtle, a Toy Story Woody doll, and many other toys. My daughter put in a photo booklet she made about herself from Vacation Bible School, her Barbie camera, and other toys.
Included in what my wife put in were some of her calligraphy, a watch, and family photos. Included in what I put in was a rookie Mark McGwire baseball card, some baseball and marathon items, and house plans. We put in three newspapers, both local and national. There were many other items we found that we had captured in time.
Finally, we each read what we wrote to our future selves. Kelsey, the youngest of us four, wrote the least followed by my son. When my wife read hers, she cried. We finished with my message, which went on a long 17 minutes, but covered everything from life in 1996 to goals for the next 25 years. Most all of our goals listed have been accomplished.
We finished reminiscing by watching a mini VHS Cassette taped the last week before the wall was closed. It showed the house both inside and out, but more importantly it captured our children acting silly and all four of us talking to 2021. There was humor in the video as my son accidentally ripped my tank top shirt totally off me as I was taking him down off my shoulders.
The final scene in the video showed the full time capsule ready to be closed and sealed, our last act in capturing 1996.
Christmas Eve was a fun evening for the five of us full of laughs and stories. We remembered memories and we made some more.
My challenge to you today is to consider capturing some memories in a time capsule of your own. Unless you’re a young family, a 25 year wait may be too long. You might consider a 15 year or 10 year time frame. It’s a great family exercise to let each member decide what they are going to put into the capsule and to write what they hope the future brings them. Include a video to truly capture and preserve your family today.
When you really get down to it, our lives are about family. Reliving good memories is always a good use of time for family, especially looking back to the future to see if dreams have come true.
Just a family thought...
Rick Kraft is a motivational speaker, a syndicated columnist, a published author, and an attorney. To submit comments, contributions, or ideas, e-mail to rkraft@kraftlawfirm.org or write to P.O. Box 850, Roswell, New Mexico, 88202 - 0850.
