A remarkable discovery unfolded during a school field trip to the Great Lakes when a fourth-grade student stumbled upon a message in a bottle, only to realize it was penned by her own mother over two decades prior. Scarlet Van Eyk, a student at St. John the Baptist Catholic Elementary School, was with her class when another student spotted the bottle. As a teacher read the letter aloud, Scarlet was astonished to learn it was written by her mother, Makenzie Van Eyk, in 1998.
The letter, dating back 26 years, revealed Makenzie was also a fourth grader at St. John the Baptist when she wrote it. As part of a class project focusing on the Great Lakes, Makenzie and her classmates wrote messages, placed them in bottles, and cast them into the water. The letter mentioned a book the class had read, "Paddle-to-the-Sea," and reflected on the Great Lakes. Makenzie confirmed she vividly remembers writing the message and tossing it into the water as a child.
This incident echoes a similar event from last year where a 1997 message in a bottle, written by a Massachusetts fifth grader, was discovered on a French beach, highlighting the enduring power of these time capsules.
