What was your world like, the Year you ………….

Hands up who has a baby box for their little one?   Or a wedding box?  A box or old case containing a collection of momentos.  Personal keepsakes, however strange, that remind us of the most important moments in our entire lives?

 I expect most people own something.  Buried away under a bed, or tucked up in the attic.

I’m a bit of a collector, so my keepsake boxes are a little over the top.  I still have all sorts of funny little things from my wedding day.  I’ve kept my entire bouquet, which I carefully dried; a set of fairy lights; wedding invitations and favours.  There’s pretty much, one of every single thing that went into making our special day.

I always find it intriguing how these things have the ability to evoke the most deeply buried memories, but of course, that’s why I keep them.  Happy memories.  Things I really don’t want to ever completelyforget.

Then we have the baby boxes.  One for each child, full of scan photographs, pregnancy diaries with sporadic entries and those tiny hospital identity bracelets that always fall off sweet little feet and end up in the bottom of whichever sleep-suit their wearing.

There are however, a lot of things that never make it into a keepsake box.  Things that aren’t given a second thought, but things you might like to be reminded of in the future.  Things that maybe your children will be curious about as they get older.

What was your life like at that particular point in time?  What was going on in your life and in the rest of the world?  What were the little things, you took for granted, that were going on around you?

For instance; What was going on in the news that day, week, month or year?  Who was at the top of the Top 40 singles chart, or album chart? What were you listening to on the radio or watching on the tv? Any world records?  Or important world events?

A popular culture tick list.

Yes, I know you can look all these things up.  You don’t even have to type them into a Google search.  Just ask Alexa, but somehow it’s not quite the same as having the information, already collected and conveniently sitting there.

So, the next time you start putting together a keepsake box to mark a special occasion, consider adding your very own Year I Was …………………. (Married, Born, etc) sheet, so your future self can look back at all the little details of your life at that specific time.

Here’s the Year I Was sheet that I’ve put together for myself and my own children.  See if you can answer the following questions for yourself.  What else would you add?

What is the Date?

How old are you?

Where are you living and with who?

What is your current job and who is your employer?

What is the UK population?

Which Political party is in charge?

Who is the Prime Minister?

International Year of --------------------?

Chinese Year of the --------------------?

Who is the Time person of the year?

Who is the BBC Sports Personality of the year?

Any notable sporting events?

Any notable World records?

Any notable weather events?  Did it snow?

What are the Christmas number one single and album in the music charts?

What are the top 10 biggest singles of the year?

What are the number one single and album in the music chart in this week?

What are the top 10 films of the year?

What films are showing in the cinemas in this week?

What are the top 10 TV shows or series?

What are the top Christmas toys that year?

Most popular smartphone of the year?

Most popular car of the Year?

Anything really important going on in the UK news?

The local news headlines.

Anything really important going on in the news abroad?

News headlines of the day?

What is everybody wearing?  Summer and winter clothing trends?

Any current collectible crazes?  Fidget spinners?

Most Popular Girls Name?

Most Popular Boys Name?