When Susie Van Metre of Marion, Iowa recorded and shared her daughter Abby's reaction to the surprise 18th birthday time capsule they made for Abby years ago, people around the world reacted in a big way on social media outlets. Abby's heartwarming story was posted and shared millions of times on Facebook. The time capsule was made from notes family members had written to Abby on her first birthday, and stored until she turned 18 last month. Samantha Meyers of KCRG-TV9 interviewed the family about the time capsule.
Abby says after she celebrated her birthday with her family, she was given the trunk full of well wishes from relatives, even an uncle who had passed away in a car accident years before her 18th birthday. She says, "...my parents said O.K. let's sit down, let's do birthday gifts. We have something really important for you, like it's really special. We want you to sit down and focus. This is important."
Abby's parents wanted to do something different when they celebrated Abby's first birthday, and that's how the time capsule idea came about. Susie explains, " “We decided it was 1999 and people were talking about the new millennium and making time capsules, and so we thought we really don’t need a bunch of gifts for a one year old. We’d rather just have everyone come together and celebrate." Each relative was asked to write a note to Abby for her read on this milestone birthday. Her parents' decision was the best gift Abby could've dreamed of. Speaking of her deceased uncle, who wrote a three page handwritten letter to her, Abby says, "Rarely does anyone get to talk to a loved one who's lost...so the fact that I get one more conversation, one more last piece of advice is just, it's priceless.”
Susie Van Metre's video of Abby reading the letters was posted on Facebook and so far, it's been viewed over 11 million times. Abby says she will do the same for her kids someday, and little sister Holland will be opening her time capsule in three years.
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