Woman reunited with 53-year-old message in a bottle from her late sister
asserted
Woman → reunite → sister
'It seems very miraculous to me that this note came back to me,' says Allison Spencer
Fifty-three years ago, Allison Spencer's mom sent her and her kid sister to the beach in Ocean City, N.J., with a mission: Write a message in a bottle, and cast it off to sea.
"She was always looking for ways to get us outside, out of the house," Spencer told As It Happens guest host Loren McInnis.
asserted
It → seem → McInnis
The two girls obliged.
asserted
girls → oblige → ?
Laurie, then nine, concocted a dramatic story about being kidnapped by "ruthless sponge fishermen," while Allison, 16, faithfully transcribed the fanciful tale.
asserted
Allison → concoct → tale
They rolled it up into a Coca-Cola bottle and set it adrift.
asserted
They → roll → it
"I'm sure we expected it to be found pretty quickly," Spencer told As It Happens guest host Loren McInnis.
asserted
It → expect → McInnis
"When it wasn't, I never gave it another thought for 53 years.
asserted
I → give → years
"
That is, until last month, when John Kauterman came upon the perfectly preserved note while cleaning up New Jersey's wetlands.
asserted
Kauterman → come → wetlands
"When John showed me a picture of the note, it shocked me into remembrance," Spencer said.
asserted
Spencer → show → remembrance
"My sister passed away nine years ago.
asserted
sister → pass → ?
She had breast cancer, and she died only in her 50s and I really miss her a lot.
asserted
I → have → her
So it's really a wonderful, special thing to me that the note came back."
asserted
note → come → me
Kauterman, co-founder of the non-profit Tidelands Initiative, has been picking trash on his state's wetlands for several years now.
asserted
Kauterman → pick → years
Messages in bottles, he says, are a dime a dozen.
asserted
he → say → bottles
"I can come across possibly one a week, or one a month," he said.
uncertain
he → come → one
But this one, he says, was special.
asserted
he → say → ?
"I was like, 'wow … the bottle's old,'" he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
"I peeked into it and I could see the first line that said, 'This was set adrift on August 20th, 1973.'
uncertain
This → peek → 20th
And I was like, oh my gosh, yeah, we got a good one here."
asserted
we → get → one
He fished out the rest of the note, and posted a photo of it on a local Facebook page, where it quickly found its way to back Spencer in Ann Arbor, Mich., where she now lives.
asserted
she → fish → Arbor
The letter reads:
"This bottle was set adrift on August 20th, 1973, on Second Street Beach, Ocean City, as my captors were transporting me to an island offshore in the Atlantic.
asserted
captors → read → Atlantic
Please notify my family that a band of ruthless sponge fishermen are forcing me to dive for them in shark-infested waters.
asserted
band → notify → waters
It's signed "You may have saved my life!
uncertain
You → sign → life
"
It was classic Laurie, says Spencer.
asserted
Spencer → say → ?
"Laurie's the one with the imagination and always coming up with crazy stories," she said.
asserted
she → come → stories
"It seems very miraculous to me that this note came back to me."
Spencer, a lifelong biology teacher has since struck up a friendship with Kauterman, and hopes to visit him the next time she's in New Jersey.
"
asserted
she → seem → Jersey
I believe that the series of events that result in a miracle are first set into when people with good hearts are doing good works.
asserted
people → believe → works
And that is John," she said.
asserted
she → say → ?
"Anyone who's taking care of the environment is tops in my book, and then the fact that he cared enough to try and reach out and find me is just very special."
asserted
he → take → me
Kauterman says he gets "a little choked up" hearing Spencer speak so kindly of him.
asserted
Spencer → say → him
The feeling, he says, is mutual.
asserted
he → say → ?
"She's really well spoken and just a wonderful lady and, you know, just being able to give her something that she was really grateful for makes all the work a little bit more meaningful," he said.
asserted
he → speak → that
She found a grandma's heartfelt letter tucked in a book, and tracked down the recipient
121-year-old postcard delivered to Welsh bank leads to unexpected family reunion
Spencer says her little sister would be "smirking and laughing" if she knew how her little prank played out after all these years.
asserted
prank → find → years
"She had the best sense of humour," Spencer said.
asserted
Spencer → have → humour
"She never opened her mouth that a wisecrack didn't come out, so I think that she would be wildly entertained by these events."
Interview with Allison Spencer and John Kauterman produced by Leïla Ahouman
asserted
she → open → Ahouman
The Aporia
