I buried my past years ago, and I’ve always wondered if someone would ever dig it up.

I’ll never know, I’m sure, the fate of the Folgers coffee can buried about two-feet deep between my old bedroom window and a fencepost.

And I’m quite sure that my pre-teen knowledge of time capsules didn’t account for the water that would surely seep inside, destroying the mementos.

But when the folks at Adams County Christian School revealed the contents of their own time capsule last week, it brought back a few memories.

Their capsule — bigger than mine but still susceptible to water damage — was buried in 1990. I think mine went down under three or four years after that, but the Ninja Turtles were certainly still popular.

I distinctly remember putting a photo of myself with my dog inside. Other trinkets of the day, those with which I was willing to part, were included, too. The really good stuff didn’t get buried, of course; I wanted it.

I think I may have written a letter to the person of the future who I’d hoped would one day — far in the future — uncover my treasures of the early 1990s.

And I drew a map to the burial site. The map was taped to the inside wall of my bedroom closet and disguised with construction paper that matched the wall color.

We moved from the house six or so years later, leaving my history behind.

Apparently, 2010 has been named the year of the modern-day time capsule by a little-known Web site. The ACCS unearthing made their list of recent visits to the past.

But all this digging makes me wonder what we are burying for the future.

ACCS is creating another time capsule to be buried and opened in 20 years. On their list for inclusion are a cell phone and a football jersey.

I’m sure Justin Bieber photos or music, big sunglasses and a few dozen Apple products would also have to go in any accurate tale of today.

But if we wrote a letter about our times, what would it say?

Would we even take the time to write?

The Web site lauding time capsules has an ulterior motive for promoting the story.

They want to be the time capsule of tomorrow.

Myheartwill.com is a site that allows users to save photos, videos, write messages and catalog special life moments on a secure Internet site. All the information is stored and revealed to an appointed guardian upon your death.

It’s a neat idea — a waterproof time capsule, I guess.

But those who did the digging and opening at ACCS can surely tell you that it’s a heck of a lot more fun to pull out that hideous cheerleader uniform than to simply view a photo of it online.

Holding a piece of the past in your hands is a moment to cherish, regardless of how much the technology around us changes.

So as we live our daily lives looking always to the future, I hope we’ll all be wise enough to create our own personal time capsules for those who’ll come behind us.

It’s not just fun; it’s history — our history.

And if anyone finds a rusted coffee can in Oxford, Miss., with a bunch of junk inside let me know.

I’d like that junk back.

Julie Cooper is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.