Weekend Assignment #23

Weekend Assignment #23: 100 years from now, your great-great-great-grandchild has been assigned to write a school report on your life and times. Help him or her by putting five things in a time capsule. The five things could include something personal or something that typifies the times we live in. One catch: It can't include a version of your AOL Journal (because that would be too easy, that's why).

Here's a look at what my great, great, great grandchild's assignment might look like:

               TIME CAPSULE

     

My assignment is to write a report about what was going on during the life and times of my great, great, great grandmother.  Before the first school sector of the year began, my parents decided to return to my ancestors' ancient house just to see if it was still standing.  Once we got there, to pass the time, my younger brother who discovered a shovel from somewhere began digging in the backyard.  He came across a solid metal box buried deep in the ground.  He called me over to help pull it out which we finally did with a great deal of difficulty.  After some poking and prying, we were able to open it and found a smaller container inside.  We opened this and found a small collection of items inside.  Evidently, somebody from long ago decided to make a little time capsule for someone to discover in the future.  But who did this?  Let me share with you what we found inside.

First, we pulled out a photo album that had pictures of lots of my relatives from so long ago.  Thank goodness the names and dates were on the back of each photo so we could figure out who was who.  I guess somebody wanted to be sure these people never got completely forgotten.

Next, we pulled out a yellowed, worn newspaper dated July 20, 1969 which bore the headline in huge letters, MAN TAKES HIS FIRST STEP ON THE MOON.  Wow!  We'd just spent part of our summer vacation at a nice resort on the east side of the moon about a month ago.  I guess somebody thought this was an extremely important event to remember over the years.

Then, we pulled out a small plastic bag with a funny-looking cigarette inside.  I think it used to be called a joint, a marijuana cigarette.  I recalled reading about this in my history class; back in the 1960's and 1970's, lots of people tried these things because it made them feel good and forget things for awhile.  Maybe it worked as a small escape from all those wars they had back then.  I guess somebody wanted the world to know they, too, had tried these things at one time.

We peeked back into the box and saw a small stuffed animal, a river otter.  It was the cutest thing we'd seen in a long time.  We'd seen these little animals in museums before; it was extremely rare to see wild animals like these anywhere nowadays.  I guess somebody wanted the world to know that this was their most favorite animal and perhaps this stuffed animal was just one of a collection they had at one time.

By this time my brother was sure the box was empty and he was beginning to lose interest but my eye caught a flash of glass in the corner.  I pulled out a small framed photograph of a naked woman.  Something about her was hauntingly familiar.  It was a very discreet photo of a woman sitting with her knees bent and arms around her chest.  It was obvious she was very comfortable with the photographer and she was smiling.  Who was this woman?  I removed the picture from its frame and looked on the back.  Oh my God!  It was my very own great, great, great grandma herself at 49 years of age.  Evidently, she was a bit of a free thinker and enjoyed life in a natural state at times.  I guess she was the somebody who wanted someone to know that once she had been a vital, fun woman who lived a happy life and she wanted to leave behind a few mementos that she thought were interesting to share from her time on earth.  I think I look like her a little.  I wish I'd known her.