South Bend: Create a Family Time Capsule

COVID-19 has caused an unprecedented response around the world, including right here in the Michiana area. Someday, though, this will be a memory—we'll look back at this time as a short, odd interlude. Our real estate agents suggest capturing this momentous, historic time by preserving your memories, thoughts, experiences, and mementos in a time capsule. Years from now, you'll have a discovery to help your family remember the significance of this time.

What to Put in a Time Capsule

Your time capsule should be filled with items that symbolize this time.

Some potential items include:

• Photographs of family members, your home, your car, and a family picture of everyone wearing masks.
• Handprints from each family member and your pet's pawprints.
• A lock of hair from yourself, your children, or your pets.
• A map of the neighborhood and write the names of your neighbors and what your interactions with them are like.
• Screenshots of video chats with loved ones.
• Your favorite memories together.
• Artifacts specific to this time like gloves, masks, a roll of toilet paper, and an empty hand sanitizer bottle. Include an explanation of why you've included these items.
• Printouts from news sites and newspaper clippings about the situation.
• Copies of your children's schoolwork with names, ages, and dates.
• Include a grocery receipt so you and the next generation can remember what you were buying and what it cost.
• The TV shows you binged on.
• Craft project or a recipe for a meal you learned how to make.
• DIY masks.
• Description of the games or activities you did as a family.
• Screenshots of jokes and memes that capture the times.

You may also want to keep a journal of things and how the pandemic affected your family. You can include:

• How you celebrate holidays, birthdays, or major life events
• Work layoffs
• How the coronavirus touched your family's health
• Shopping extremes and community changes
• Travel restrictions
• School closures
• Things you were thankful for
• What your daily routine looked like
• Your financial concerns and how you coped.

In addition, you can include interviews of every family member describing how they feel, what they've learned from the experience, what they are doing to keep busy, what they are thankful for, and where they'd like to go or what they like to do when this is over.

Tips for Storing a Time Capsule

• Do not bury at home
  This is the biggest mistake that people make with time capsules. When buried, very few survive the elements and many are never found. Since your time capsule will probably be opened in several years to come, you can keep it in a closet or in the attic, as long as it's climate-controlled. Just keep it out of sight and put it in a place someone can remember, especially if you move.
  
  
• Choose a secure container
  No special container is really needed for your time capsule. You likely have something in your home that will work just fine. Make sure its shape will allow materials to lie flat. When you've put everything inside, close it securely to ensure it's airtight and not too easy to open.
  
  
• Decide when to open it
  When it comes to the opening date, it's all up to you and your family. If you want to be around to open the time capsule, you can plan on a shorter time period—maybe a decade or two. Also, there's nothing wrong with the appeal of reflecting back even after two years. But if you want to preserve it for future generations, go for a year that reflects that. And make sure that family members know about the time capsule.

Get started by downloading family time capsule worksheets to capture the memories and emotions related to the coronavirus pandemic. And if you're planning to move, contact us for a tour of South Bend homes for sale.