Finding a bottle with a message while walking on the beach has always been a romantic dream, so its discovery decades later was certainly unexpected. This story begins when an eight-year-old throws a bottle with a message into the sea, and it returns to her twenty-five years later.
Joanna Buchan was just eight years old when she participated in a school project in 1996. Letters were written by the pupils and placed in pop bottles. These bottles were dumped into the water by the class from a fishing boat off the coast of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. As Joanna grew older and became a doctor, she eventually forgot about the class work.
His tiny Sprite bottle, on the other hand, floated through decades of time and over 800 miles before landing in the hands of Elena Andreassen Haga in Gasvaer, Norway. She’d gone out to pick berries and look for trash to clean up. She saw the letter inside the bottle when she saw it.
She read the letter and smiled at the childish writing about teddy bears, making miniature animals out of Blu Tack, and her dislike towards boys. “I was overjoyed,” Elena exclaimed. “You never know—it could be from another little island in the area, or it could be something else.”
I texted Joanna the same day we found the bottle, and then promptly forgot about it after the holiday. I had no idea who she was at first, but when I emailed her a picture of the letter, the conversation heated up.” Elena tracked down Joanna on Facebook and sent her a picture of the letter.
Joanna expressed surprise because she had no idea what she would have written about. But, like with many recollections, the cobwebs of her memory vanished when she viewed a photo of her letter.
“At first, I didn’t remember the message in a bottle,” Joanna explained, “but then I started to have a vague recollection of a project we did at school.” It was a dusty memory, but when I saw the letter, I recognized my handwriting, which is obviously not as nice now.” “I just died with laughter when I read it back,” she continued, “especially the way I ended it with ‘by the way, I hate boys.'”
Joanna couldn’t help but laugh about the things that her eight-year-old self had written about. Not only was she stunned to learn it had been found but that it had survived 25 years in sea, but she then felt prompted to reach out to her teacher, Edith Skinner.
Edith was delighted the bottle had been found. And Edith was proud to learn Joanna had gone on to grow up and become a doctor.Edith responded to tell Joanna: “Your handwriting is just as l remember – neat and beautifully formed.
The fact you mentioned our next project ‘Charlotte’s Web’ brought back many happy memories of the lovely artwork on the wall. I am so proud to hear you are a doctor and I do hope you look back on your childhood years at Peterhead Central School with affection and happy memories.
“This letter startled Elena, its “discoverer.” It also thrilled Joanna’s teacher’s heart that her school initiatives had a long-term impact. Perhaps even more remarkable was the fact that one of her students went on to achieve wonderful things for others, such as become a doctor.
Isn’t it incredible how some childhood experiences, such as schooling, school projects, and messages in a bottle, may generate new memories alongside old ones? Similarly, God’s word is a 2,000-year-long love letter to us. However, his word to us is consistent: his love for us will endure.