One of the items my mom brought home from Nona’s house was an old cassette tape my grandpa had recorded random conversations on.
I am sure this was high tech at the time! (1984)
On the tape you hear my grandparents talking to some family that was in town visiting from Chicago.
They talked about riding the train into town and how they hadn’t been to Seattle since 1969.
Part way into the audio, you can hear my Mom talking, as well as my sister, who at that time was only 4 years old and then you hear a baby crying, me!
There is nothing specific on the tape, no campfire stories.
Just regular sitting around in the living room chatting, all caught on tape.
When my Mom first told me about the cassettes she found, I thought they were kind of silly.
I mean, it’s not even a video!
It’s just audio.
The more I heard about it though, the cooler it seemed.
Since there isn’t a visual to go along with the sound, it’s almost like reading a book.
It allows you to construct the scene in your head.
In my head, I remember the living room this would have taken place in, but that’s about it.
The rest is up to my imagination.
For my Mom, I am sure it jogged a lot of memories that she hadn’t thought about for a long time. Even though using your imagination is more work that sitting and watching a home video, it’s a little more fun.
It also allows you to remember just the “good stuff.”
Which brings me to what my post was really going to be about!
Time Capsules
When I think about them, I think about an old metal box burred in the backyard rotting away.
( Which I couldn’t wait even 3 days to dig back up, just to discover all the goodies I placed inside were mildewing. Darn it 8 year old self!)
Or the letter my Business Law teacher made me write in high school that was suppose to be sent to my future self in five years that never came.
I am still waiting Mr. Woods.
Well, now there’s an app for that!
With this app kids can send an email to their future selves and receive it months or several years later.
They can decide what to include, add photos and even a voice recording.
( See how i connected the two stories there?!)
I don’t know how cool I would have thought this idea was when I was a kid because half the fun of a time capsule was gathering items and digging a hole.
My adult self thinks it’s pretty cool though and I would love to get an email today from my kid self with “important” items and a talking message!
I also came across this cute idea.
It’s a happy medium I think.
It’s also pretty ( pinterest worthy)
and doesn’t involve any digging.
Like the author says
” All of the joy of a time capsule, with none of the pesky commitment”
