HOLLAND, Mich. — While cleaning out his late parents' attic, Mike Sheppard discovered an old Magazine Cine-Kodak 8 Model 90 camera. Inside he discovered undeveloped 8 mm film, which he would soon learn contained memories he and his siblings never knew were captured.
"It was like an accidental time capsule of a memory that they wanted to record," said Sheppard. "It was a really good new memory. For two more minutes, they were alive."
Sheppard had already embarked on a personal mission to digitize family photos and film. His parents owned a projector to show their family memories, which he and his siblings still have.
He explained the camera was made in the 1940s and believes his grandfather bought it around 1945 when his father was born. The film itself was made in 1979.
"I also found the original instruction manual that told how you can open it, so I was able to open it and inside, although it's not here now, there was a magazine that still had film," said Sheppard.
The film was sent to California where it was developed. After it was developed, they found it showed scenes from Sheppard's early childhood.
"About 10 seconds of the video was myself and my sisters, or our friends, are playing Super Mario Brothers in about 1985, and we're recording the video game on the TV," said Sheppard. "Then on the other side of the cartridge was a full two minutes of my two older sisters and my mother playing in the garden, playing in the dirt, learning how to ride a bike and just cleaning up the lawn."
He explained that to his parents, these everyday moments were seemingly important enough to capture.
"It is not like today, where you can record hours of video without a second thought," said Sheppard. "Every second counted, because not only did they have a limited amount of time, they also had to pay for it to be developed."
The camera itself is fully mechanical with no batteries, and it can still be used today.
Sheppard hopes that if others discover similar findings in their attics or basements they appreciate the camera itself, and the memories it may contain.
"Look on how to see if there is any undeveloped film inside, and try to get it developed," said Sheppard. "Now everything can be digitized, and you can preserve it for the next generations, and these are memories that can last 100 years now."
The full film reel found by Sheppard can be seen here.