Woman Waits 25 Years to Open Wedding Gift from Maid of Honor. What She Found Left Her Speechless (Exclusive)

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Carri Anne tells PEOPLE she resisted the urge to peek for decades, finally opening the box on her 25th wedding anniversary
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Carri Anne received a wedding shower gift from her maid of honor in 2000 with instructions not to open it until July 29, 2025
The sealed box traveled with her for 25 years through multiple moves, including overseas
As the milestone approached, her kids encouraged her to film the moment for TikTok
For 25 years, a small box sat untouched on a closet shelf, traveling from city to city and even across oceans, waiting for one specific date.
Sealed with medical tape and marked with a handwritten label reading 'Do Not Open Until July 29, 2025,' it moved with Carri Anne through every chapter of her adult life.
'I've known about it for 25 years and I've stared at it for a long time,' Carri Anne tells PEOPLE. The gift, from her maid of honor at one of her wedding showers in 2000, came with strict instructions not to open it until her 25th wedding anniversary.
Every time her family relocated for her husband's military career, she unpacked it with her household goods and placed it on the shelf in her closet. 'July 29th is my anniversary,' she says, the date ingrained in her mind long before the day arrived.
She admits she had been tempted to peek over the years but resisted. 'It was a special gift, a thoughtful gift,' she says, remembering the box's whimsical year-2000 design.
When her daughter reminded her that the anniversary was just weeks away, she decided it was finally time. But before opening it, she brought the story to TikTok — at her kids' urging. 'They're the ones who encouraged me to go on TikTok,' she says. 'I'm brand new to TikTok.'
Carri Anne says she was nervous to cut through the tape. 'I was very nervous,' she shares. 'I was really nervous until I put it on TikTok and it went viral, and then I got nervous.'
She had no idea what was inside. 'My girlfriend was just… she's a ham,' she says, explaining she expected a gag gift or maybe old photos from high school.
Inside, she found a handful of index cards. The moment she began reading them, something unexpected happened. 'At first I thought it was her handwriting,' Carri Anne says. 'And then I started to realize that it was other people's contributions when the penmanship changed.'
As she kept reading, a familiar script stopped her. 'I recognized that my sister had her note that she had posted, and then I recognized my mom's handwriting,' she says. 'And so it was just this whole thing.'
Her mother passed away eight years ago, making the discovery deeply personal. 'It was really a very special moment,' she notes.
Carri Anne says she is almost certain the shower where the box was created took place at her mother's house. 'I'm remembering us being out on the back deck and wondering where she had this little box hidden,' she says.
Her mother, she adds, was 'a really thoughtful person,' making the gift even more meaningful. 'She would have eaten this up,' Carri Anne says. 'She would've thought this was the coolest thing.'
Inside the cards were snapshots of the year 2000, written in real time by friends and family. 'Some of the cards were like, oh, Monica Lewinsky… did Hillary dump Bill?' she says, laughing at the political gossip preserved in ink.
There were also nods to her Wisconsin roots. 'I loved that some of the people were talking about what was going on in the Packers at the time and the local sports teams,' she says.
Fashion was another favorite theme. Capri pants, flared jeans, and the return of '70s styles were all recorded. 'I should have kept my clothing,' she says with a laugh. 'And then a lot of people talked about the millennium, we all thought the world was going to end, the computers were going to stop.'
The experience has inspired a new family tradition. 'My husband and kids were like, why don't we take the same box and we'll cross out 2025 and put 2050,' she says.
Her hope is to open it on their 50th wedding anniversary — 'God willing, we are there,' she adds. And maybe, she says, her kids will keep the idea going. 'They've been pretty enamored with this whole story as well,' she says. 'They could also carry that tradition on.'
Online, the response has been overwhelming. 'Mostly the comments that have touched me the most are how special it was to have handwriting from loved ones who have passed,' Carri Anne shares.
Many viewers admitted they were moved to tears by the idea of holding something handwritten by someone they miss. 'Once they realized what was in it, a lot of them said they got teary,' she says.
Some messages came from unexpected places, including overseas. 'My brother's student in Indonesia saw the video,' she says. 'That is just mind-blowing to me.'
Her maid of honor, who gave the gift, remains one of her closest friends. 'We met in seventh-grade math class,' Carri Anne says. 'Her and I were just glued at the hip all throughout high school.'
They've supported each other through decades of life changes. 'She was always a really thoughtful friend, and she always gave you personalized gifts,' Carri Anne says.
Today, her friend is a nurse anesthetist. 'She's a pretty inspiring woman,' Carri Anne says proudly.
The box itself has seen nearly as much of the world as Carri Anne's family. 'It's been in two countries… Europe and the Caribbean, and then it was in D.C., California, Virginia, and Chicago,' she says.
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Each move reinforced the value she placed on keeping it safe. 'That's kind of fun to think about — that it's traveled as much as we have,' she says.
The experience has also changed the way she thinks about time. 'Moments are so precious in life, and you just don't know what's going to happen the next moment,' she opens up.
Carri Anne admits she's always been sentimental, but this reminded her how quickly life changes. 'Time changes really fast, so we've got to just hold on to each day,' she says. She also often thinks about her mother and her cousin Lana, who recently passed away. 'That was something that I just wanted to mention, too,' she says softly.
Looking back, she feels the box was never just about the year 2000. It was also about the people who filled her life — and the way their handwriting still brings them close. 'My mom would've totally remembered everything she put in there,' she says with a smile.
Now, the box is sealed again, waiting for its next big moment. And for Carri Anne, that's the perfect reminder of how much small moments matter. 'It just makes you realize how special it is to hold them in your hands, all these years later,' she says.
Read the original article on People