When Christopher Janitz turned 29 yesterday, he had no idea the surprise present he’d be receiving from his sentimental mother: A school assignment he wrote 20 years ago predicting what the year 2016 would be like.
“She said, ‘This is something I've been hanging on to for the past 20 years,’” Janitz, of Wallington, New Jersey, told ABC News of the hilarious time capsule. “If I can remember correctly, I wrote this for an assignment when I was in third grade. I remember over the years thinking about this letter whenever someone would bring up the conversation about what the future would be like. But I definitely never thought I would see it again!”
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Overall, he’s not too far off.
“I’m most surprised at how some of the ideas I had as a kid ended up coming true,” he explained. “We have automated or ‘robot’ cashiers when you head to the grocery store and do self-checkout. I’m a designer who works on a computer all day and owns an iPad with a stylus, so that little bit came true, too!
“I think the MOST surprising thing, by far, is my prediction that the Cowboys wouldn’t win the Super Bowl again. I wrote the letter right after they won their last Super Bowl (hence the hatred ha!). Since then, my Giants have gone on to win TWO Super Bowls. The Cowboys? Nothing. The 9-year-old me would be thrilled!”
All this time Janitz had no clue his mom had held onto this keepsake, but in hindsight, he’s really grateful she did.
“After giving it to me, she told me that she had kept it in a drawer hidden away,” he said. “She would take it out every now and then and read it to put a smile on her face. I love my mom to no end, and am so grateful for her to have kept something like this so close to her. I don’t think she’ll have any idea how much it means to me.”