The picture above is a beautiful scene of a nighttime celebration of life, releasing sky lanterns for their loved one lost. How emotionally touching is this view?

Growing up in a family owned business, that deals with the casket industry has always caused me to think about those less unfortunate, those who have lost a loved one, and those who have a hard time letting go.

It really is true, that you do not know what you have until it is gone. I have heard many sad stories of family members arguing with each other while trying to work with the funeral director to pick out which casket they want. My family never dealt with the families. We only worked with the funeral directors themselves. Sometimes the poor funeral directors have seen and heard so much, that they just have to tell someone else the stories. Unfortunately my mother, who is a great listener and secretary of our family owned Casket manufacturing company, was the one who got to listen to their stories about the families.

We at The Original Time Capsule company want to say that we are listening to your problems and are trying to find ways to solve them. We have heard from funeral directors that there are not many ways for families to remember their loved ones in a tangible way, once they are gone.

 Preserve Loved Ones Old Letters

What advice did your grandfather always tell you as a child? What was the funniest story he ever told you? How do you remember your grandmothers famous apple crumb pie recipe once she is gone (especially if she made it from scratch)? What do you do with all those old war letters that your dad wrote back and forth to your mom before they were married? These are just a few of the questions that are important to treasure to pass on to your grandchildren and their children of the future. So how do you do that?

Use Social Media to Share your Story

With so many more funeral homes taking advantage of the internet and social media world, it is important for funeral homes to have other new and upcoming ways to help families grieve and remember a loved one. This is why so many funeral homes are now including dedicated pages on their websites, for family members to fill out messages of hope, condolences, and stories of the past of loved ones who have gone on to rest in peace.

Set Up a Personalized Celebration of Life Ceremony

How does a funeral home truly set up a memorial service, when they really do not know the person? How do you help that family truly create a celebration of life for their loved one? Families need a tangible way to memorialize their loved one. Set up a uniquely personal tribute to your loved one, and let the family work through the process of grief, by decorating a table with several heirloom memories, like your grandfather’s old pocket watch. Set out note cards for family and friends to fill out and tell a short story or memory about the deceased loved one, to pass on to the family to read later. Many times it is hard for some to go to a viewing, or let go, so a great way to help someone say goodbye, is by letting them write a letter to their deceased loved one. Many people tell you to “just get over it.” You never really ‘get over it,’ but instead grief is a process or journey if you will that will either make you better or bitter.

Create a Memorial Time Capsule

You can set up memory boards, candles, and wreaths, but what do you do with it all when it is done? Don’t just stand in a line to say your goodbye at a viewing, then leave. Don’t just help take care of the family during that next week by bringing them a meal already cooked. Do something extra to let the family know how much you appreciated that loved one in your life, or to say thank you to the loved one who passed. The loved one who is now gone, can be kept alive by keeping his or her legacy life alive. So how do you do that?

Set up a memory table similar to the one here, with special tangible items on it. Then also add a personalize Legacy Time Capsule on it, for family members and friends to put there cards, words of encouragement, and sentimental items of their loved one in. You can get an “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule here, then put a photo of your loved one on the outside of this luxury tin, to preserve all these treasured memories in.

During the holidays it is always hard to celebrate, be happy, and open gifts, without that special someone there anymore. This is especially hard if your loved one passed on a particular holiday. Reopen the time capsule on that holiday, hold one of their tangible mementos or memorabilia, to help you get through this difficult time of year. The time capsule is meant to help with this problem, and keep your loved one alive more so than just in your heart. Revive your memories today of your loved one.

So if you had the opportunity to keep one sentimental item from your grandfather, father, or any loved one who has passed, what would it be? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post Conducting Your Own Memorial Service appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

How exactly are clothes like a time capsule? Read on to find out. What does you clothes closet look like? Do you still have old clothes from several years ago? I know I do. Recently I pulled out old necklaces and looked at old photos of my grandmother (my mom’s, mom). It is amazing to see the differences in clothing styles then compared to now. Do you ever go shopping and see a shirt and just know or say out loud, “I can so see (insert someone’s name you know) in that shirt?” Have you ever thought about how clothes are like a time capsule. They can tell you about the past era.

Who Influences your Clothing Style?

So when it came time for the fun shopping part of my wedding, I could not wait. Even though my mom and I are close, we are opposite when it comes to clothing likes. She is a plain, Jane kind of girl. I like to have clothes with designs, patterns, and bright colors. I found out from my mom, that apparently I got that from her mom (my grandmother), who wore bright colors all the time. Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out from your family history who you dress like? You can find out if you keep pictures, or sample pieces of clothing in your own Family Time Capsule.

Pass your family time capsule down as each new child has a baby themselves, keeping these clothing styles or other interesting facts and stories alive. You can get an “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule here and then put a large family photo on the outside of it, or any family photos on the outside of it and decorate it yourself. Then, fill your new Family Time Capsule with fun things you want to look at again years later as a family, reminiscing about what life was like for your family or your grandparents when they were young and cool.

Styles Come and Go

You can take one trip through a store like Goodwill and know that clothing styles come and go. If you were to put some clothing in a time capsule to let future generations know what’s in style now, what should you put in there? It is always fun to collect old newspaper ads to save over the years and put them in your time capsule too. Not only do they show the clothing style differences, but also the price differences for a shirt over the past years. From Uggs, crocs, to skinny jeans, the ideas are endless laughs waiting to happen in the future. Also if you put a photo or sample piece of a pair of parachute pants in a time capsule, you are asking to be embarrassed for the rest of your life when that time capsule would be opened. I am warning you. These time capsules are a big party of family fun when they are opened.

If you are trying to lose weight like myself, it can also be very fun to take pictures of your clothes over time to see how far you have come, when you open your time capsule years later. Did you gain your weight back, or are you smaller now? Clothes in general can tell you a lot about someone. That is why as teenagers when we are all trying to find our identity, we are working hard to find the ‘perfect’ outfit to make us look good.

Teachable Moments – The Shopping Trip

Keep in mind as parents, the new school clothing shopping trip can be great bonding time with your children. Take advantage of this memory making moment to find out what their style is and learn about them. Do not force your clothing interest ideas on them. If the clothes being picked out are risky and not appropriate, use the opportunity to talk about self esteem, or help them learn how to look cool and confident, instead of yelling at your child for wearing things that you would have never of worn in your generation. When you take the time to determine their style, it makes it easier to pick out clothes for Christmas gifts too.

So how can you turn shopping time into bonding time? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post How Clothes are Like a Time Capsule appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Memories are some of the most special moments we want to treasure forever. That is more difficult for us all, as we get older.

“She just does not seem to be all there anymore. She is forgetting more. She is having a hard time recognizing me as her daughter. She is forgetting my name.” – my Aunt complained to my mother over the phone. My aunt was living in Texas with my grandmother, and my mom (her sister) lives in Indiana. It was heart retching knowing there was very little my mother could do, to help my Aunt and Grandmother, in Indiana.

What To Do To Help the Older Generation

Despite our distance, my grandmother and I were close. She prayed for my future husband for years, wherever he was in life, to be ready for me mentally, emotionally, and physically. Her prayers worked as I found “the one.” How could I ever give back to my grandmother who was an Alzheimer patient. I do not wish this problem, or any other memory disorder, on anyone. It is hard to deal with, as family members let alone being the actual person trying to live through this struggle.

How a Memory Box or Time Capsule Helps

Even though my family lived far away from my grandmother, that does not mean we could not help. We helped my Aunt recall memories, wrote down stories we remembered, recorded our voices, and of course as grandchildren created homemade cards for grandma.

A memory box or time capsule can do a similar function to help. What would you put in a memory box to stir up a loved one’s memory, emotions, and thoughts?

Image taken from http://sheffieldtimewalk.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/manor-memories/

A Memory Box or Time Capsule helps us all Recall the Past

Include things like:

• Newspaper clipping of special events, or marriage announcement

• Postcards of places visited

• Favorite recipes (maybe even take the time then to make the recipe together)

• A letter from each of you as family members thanking your loved one for all he or she has done for you.

• Family photos

• Special necklace or watch your loved one constantly used to wear

• Video of your loved one growing up. Go through the video slowly pausing to say each person’s name (especially if they are family members) to help your loved one recall names with faces.

• Hobbies your loved one usually does (for example: a sample of his or her quilt or a golf ball)

• Include items which an Alzheimer’s patient loves or boosts their self-esteem. Things that give your loved one their identity back.

• A memory box or time capsule can help an Alzheimer’s patient on all sensory levels. Include things that relate to all their senses. For example, maybe include their favorite perfume or cologne in a small bottle.

This is a fun activity to do for the family, as much as it is for your loved one to open the memory box or time capsule. You all get to share sentimental moments with each other, bonding closer and inspiring conversation about the nostalgic items. Whatever you include in your memory box or time capsule, make sure it reflects the senior’s loves, interests, and significant or milestone moments in the history of their lives, and has strong meaning to him or her. You may want to include an inventory checklist of each item you include with a tag on each item with the story associated with each nostalgic memento. This will help your loved one be able to read and review things on their own time too.

If everything goes well, memory boxes are a great means to help an alzheimer’s patient, because when a senior sees one memory trigger, it may help them recall another memory to talk about. You may even find out something new about them, that you had no idea about. To read more about this topic, check out http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/09/music-memory-box

What would you put in a memory box or time capsule for your older loved one, to help them remember better? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

Credits:

Main Family Quote is available as wall art from http://www.wisedecor.com/decor/wall-art/theloveinour.html

The post Top 10 Reasons to Make a Time Capsule for an Alzheimer Patient appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

I am convinced that the greatest legacy we can leave our children are happy memories: those precious moments so much like pebbles on the beach that are plucked from the white sand and placed in tiny boxes that lay undisturbed on tall shelves until one day they spill out and time repeats itself, with joy and sweet sadness, in the child now an adult.
~ Og Mandino

“Rewind that commercial. I have got to see that again.” This is what my husband said last night as we watched a moving Olympics commercial. You know, I wish it was that easy to do with our lives and those special milestone moments that made us happy – Rewind and see that again.

If it is just as important to us to rewind good commercials, tv show clips, or movie lines, then it also needs to be that much more important to rewind and leave a legacy with our lives, (for our children), and what we do now.

Leave a Legacy

I love hearing old stories from my grandparents and parents, as they grew up. I have a hard time imagining this, but my grandmother told me that her parents had to trade chickens for eggs (instead of using cash) in the past, when she grew up. These stories leave lasting impressions on you, as I looked down at the cash in my hand. Suddenly a dollar bill, has more meaning.

What are you doing to leave a legacy? Leave your teachable moment and milestone moment stories in a Baby time capsule for your child to pass on years later. Do not wait until it is too late. A time capsule is faster than a scrapbook to do. That is why our company created it. We all are limited on time. However, it is honoring to pass on that pocket watch from grandpa, or those inspiring stories, tips, and advice from older couples in the family to help you through your struggles in your own marriage. You can fill out the “Message to the Future” letters as friends and family members to help pass on these legacy lessons.

Preserve Family Photos:
Here is a website to get you started with this legacy idea. Write a family memoir book with these simple steps and ideas at http://vallain.squidoo.com/family-memories.

The How To:
This website offers steps on how to leave a legacy. Check them out at http://www.grandparents.com/grandkids/you-and-your-grandkids/the-boomer-burden. Again, the time to leave a legacy is Now….not later. Live a life of No Regrets. Your future children will thank you.

The Song:
Here is an inspiring song to listen to as you work on your Legacy Time Capsule for your family and friends. We leave you an audio recording of a great song, as a legacy, to you who reads this blog….or “Message to the Future. Listen and watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3GxmLaaAwg.

The life you live, and the decisions you make today are impacting your family and friends. What are you doing Now, to impact those around you? Whatever you are doing – good or bad – is leaving a lasting impression. How will you leave a legacy?

Comment below about what you are leaving your family. For example, is it a legacy of:

– Inspirational story
– Money
– Favorite baby toy
– Honeymoon souvenir
– Heirloom recipe
– Pocket watch
– Tangible nostalgic item
– Life and business skills
– Audio or video recording
– “Message to the Future”
– ______________________ (fill in the blank with your comment below. Share your ideas with other, to help.)

How will those you love remember you today….not just tomorrow?

Order a Baby or Wedding Time Capsule to help you start leaving your legacy at http://www.timecapsule.com.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

www.timecapsule.com

The post Leave a Legacy…..Now….With a Time Capsule appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.