Opening the Time Capsule

Way back in 2008 before this blog (or Curly) was born, our family made a summer list. This was not unusual; in fact, back then it was pretty typical. Drama Queen was home for her first summer after starting school down at SUU and Teach was facing her senior year. Dog Walker was still heavily involved in scouting, trying to complete all of the available merit badges, and the younger kids were doing what younger kids do.

So back to the summer list... when Drama Queen submitted her thoughts, her number one item was to prepare a time capsule. This meshed perfectly with a merit badge activity, so what could I do? I let my sweetie design and prepare a time capsule. He got the kids involved and together they built a time capsule against our east facing (and cute neighbor boy facing!) wall.

We had originally planned to open the time capsule in 2014, when the house would have turned 20 years old, but with Teach's mission, it slipped to this summer, when the house turned 25. After 11 years, many of our younger children and all of the grandchildren didn't remember the time capsule not being there.

Today was our September Birthdays party, so everyone was here except for Prima Donna. After a nice dinner, my sweetie started working on dismantling the time capsule. Just like when he put it together, he also got the kids involved in taking it apart.

Anyone who was big enough to hold a hammer was allowed to help remove mortar and separate bricks. It wasn't long before they were lifting the last pieces from the top. There had been some discussion as to the container, but those who remembered a plastic box were correct. After putting in all the treasures, we had wrapped it with strapping tape, so it took a minute to free the contents.

The kids enjoyed looking through the pictures, but the favorite part was a survey completed by each family member that included favorite songs, friends, hobbies, stuff like that... and last of all, it had an opportunity for each of us to write a letter to our future selves.

Drama Queen wanted to read each one, so my sweetie granted permission and she used her best projection voice so we could all hear what each other had written. Some were clever, some heartfelt, and some just a little silly, but they were all valuable pieces of our family history.

As we pulled each treasure from the box, some of the kids remembered placing them there. Prima Donna's favorite little stuffed dog was finally "found"! Even the lip gloss was still in pretty good shape! The only things that really appeared to have weathered were the staples holding the papers together. They had completely rusted through.

The kids enjoyed this activity so much they are already asking me if we are going to make another time capsule, can you believe that? Maybe when Sport or Curly start working on that merit badge...