Time Capsule

In the early 90's I created a time capsule with my youth group and we buried it on the Church grounds. To the best of my knowledge, it still lies buried there.  I can't remember exactly what we put in it, but I do remember the THRILL of trying to create something that would provide someone with a taste of what our youth group was like, because we LOVED it and wanted to share that experience with future generations.

I own three pieces of furniture of my great-great-grandparents.  A brass bed frame where several succeeding generations lay their heads at night, a dresser which has held our clothes and a cedar chest which has held our hopes, dreams and memories.  I cherish these items, and look forward to the day when I can pass them on to my own children.

In a throw-away age, will we still have items like these to pass along?  For instance, every photo is now a digital photo now.  One thing my children will not have to do that I have is sort through boxes of photos and slides when I am gone.  But, it seems like something has been lost here.  I looked through a box of slides recently that belonged to my grandparents.  The front part of the box contained some rather boring shots of buildings on an anonymous college campus.  So, I guess I had gotten bored and never finished sorting through the box.  But this time I did and found newborn pics of myself with my parents and grandparents.  I had never seen these before and they were a treasure trove!  But what happens to our digital pics as formats change through the years?  Will succeeding generations be able to look at these pics, even if they wanted to?

In a throwaway age, what lasting items will remain?  If you were to create a time machine right now, what would you include? What items would be essential in telling the story of your life in 2013?  Would it include pieces of technology, like a iphone or iPod? Would it include books or movies or music that means something to you? Would you put in pictures, or documents?  Would you try and write something personal, offering a slice of your life as it exists today?  What would be ESSENTIAL for communicating the essence of your life here in 2013?