Ortonville-In 1975, before Judy Miracle moved to Ortonville, she made a time capsule.
She used a shoe box, and in it, she placed a pair of shoes from one of her children, tokens, a family photograph and a little story about what the family’s life was like at that time.
Her children were young then, all under five, and she had more to come (she eventually would be the mother of seven). The shoes had metal on them, as back then doctors wanted braces on the shoes of children whose toes turned in or out to prevent lifelong problems (later proved unnecessary).
She put the date on the outside of the box and it came with the family to Ortonville and was stored in a closet. Through the years, mostly when cleaning out the closet, her children would ask to open the box and she would tell them it couldn’t be opened until 25 years had passed.
When that day finally came in 2000, the family gathered round.
‘I wanted to remember some of the things I knew I wouldn’t remember,? said Miracle. ‘I remember thinking, ‘why didn’t I put more in it???
But what she had put in it and what she treasured was the written history of the everyday things she did as a budget-conscious mom of young children? creating with play-doh, supplying the kids with Jell-O and pudding to draw in, taking her family to the beach regularly or her husband taking the children to give her a break.
‘It brought me back, I could visualize those four little kids in the truck with the water wings,? recalls Miracle.
Now, she hopes others will take the time to write their own histories and tape some photographs to 8.5×11 sheets of paper to place in another time capsule, part of a fundraiser for the Ortonville Community Historical Society.
‘We’re looking to get community members and citizens involved, thinking about the important things in their lives that they want to carry on for the next generation,? said Miracle, OCHS president.
The society will accept a donation of $10 for every three sheets submitted for the capsule. Submissions will be accepted until Christmas in the Village, Dec. 5, at the Old Mill Museum. The Old Mill is open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays. Donations will be used for maintenance of the Old Mill.
Miracle is not yet sure what type of container will be used for storage of the stories, pictures and other items that may be attached to the sheets of paper, nor where the container will be kept, but the capsule will not be opened for 50 years once closed at Christmas in the Village. It will be a treasure waiting to be opened by someone in 2065.
For more information, call Judy Miracle at 248-884-8585.