18-year-old opens time capsule parents filled on 1st birthday, finds unforgettable memories

It's easy to forget all the beautiful moments you have shared with your friends and family members over the years. That's why we all keep memory boxes and photo albums. While the latter has now become digital, it's still nice to physically hold memorabilia from the past and take a walk down memory lane. It's even more special when your parents curate the experience for you. For Gracie Chastain's 18th birthday, her parents decided to give her the most moving gift ever. On her first birthday, they filled a large cooler with memorabilia, jewelry, saving bonds, and pretty much anything else they wanted. Gracie finally got to open the "time capsule," filled with memories from 17 years ago.

The time capsule was a complete secret. Gracie had no idea it even existed. Her mother Kim shared in an interview, "We’ve moved a couple of times since we did the time capsule but for the last ten years, it has been in the back of a large storage room in our basement buried beneath boxes of books. My kids never go in there because they think it’s creepy, so it went unnoticed all these years." The unsuspecting daughter only found out about it when she celebrated her 18th birthday. Camera at the ready, her parents presented the large box to her. She was completely floored when she was finally able to open the box. Kim later uploaded the photos she took of the moment she opened the time capsule to Facebook, where they quickly went viral.

The mother wrote, "On Gracie’s 1st birthday, I didn’t know what to get a one-year-old who had everything she needed and wouldn’t remember her birthday, anyway, so I had our friends and family put things in a time capsule for her to open on her 18th birthday. We kept it a secret all these years, and yesterday, she opened it. There was an array of memorabilia from her birth year, jewelry and savings bonds, but best of all, it was filled with gifts and notes from loved ones, many of whom have since passed. It was really special." Since it was first uploaded, her post has received over 76,000 likes and 100 comments. It has also been shared over 106,000 times.

"Gracie’s favorite things were pictures of her grandparents, jewelry, and, of course, the savings bonds and cash," Kim stated. "She said she felt that there were so many people that cared about her that she didn’t even know. I asked her what she wishes we would have included in the box but didn’t, and she said predictions on what we thought she’d be like at 18 would have been fun." At the moment, the 18-year-old is on the same boat as hundreds of other high school seniors who are missing out on many experiences due to shutdowns. Opening the time capsule reminded Gracie about all the positive things that she can still appreciate.

Her mother said, "They are losing the last of their senior year and all the experiences that go along with it. For her, losing her last show choir competitions was a major disappointment. This whole experience of receiving so much love from this time capsule, and all the people who have shared it, has been such a positive and encouraging experience." Kim also wanted to encourage other parents to build time capsules for their children. She believes it's never too late. "Why not make one for your 5-year-old to open when they’re 21? Or your 18-year-old to open when they’re 40? Or make one for your child, grandchild, fiance for their wedding day?" She suggested. "Who wouldn’t want to open a time capsule from a loved one even as a grown adult? Go for it!"