A Letterkenny man has revealed a wonderful ‘message in a bottle’ story which has forged a new friendship with a little girl from Scotland.
Life coach and author Roger Holmes from Drumardagh cast a small glass jar into the Atlantic Ocean more than six months ago never thinking it would find its way back to him.
He left a message inside with his email address and threw him from a ship 100 miles into the ocean.
And last week he received a message back from an excited 7-year-old girl on holiday on the coast of Scotland saying she had found it.
Instead of us telling his story, we decided that Roger wrote it so well that we’d use his words.
Take it away Roger…..
“At dawn on September 28th 2018, approx 100 miles south-east of St John’s, Newfoundland, on an oceanic plateau called the Grand Banks, I put a message in a small jar, and threw it into the Atlantic Ocean. I watched through the fog as the small jar fell into the vast Atlantic Ocean from the helipad on the top deck of the Atlantic Star container ship. I thought I would never see that jar again.
“On April 9th 2019, almost exactly 6 months later, ironically when I had once again traveled back over the Atlantic from New York to Donegal, I received an email with 2 photos attached. Anna Riddoch, a 7 year old girl visiting her grandparents home on the island of South Uist, off the west coast of Scotland, found the little jar with my message and contact details intact!
“Anna, who lives in Inverness, was walking with her dad on the beach on South Uist while enjoying her Easter holidays, and was overcome with excitement at finding a message in a bottle!
Roger Holmes
“Emails were exchanged, and Anna’s mother Mary told me that she spent her childhood walking on that beach near her parents croft, hoping she would find a message in a bottle.
“It is amazing that a little jar survived so many winter storms and high seas, to make a journey of over 2000 miles across the ocean. There are so many morals to this story. Embrace adventure, dream dreams, believe that little things can have epic journeys and achievements, embrace the outdoors..especially the ocean shore, and always always believe that good things happen to those who seek them out.
“I’ve told Anna I’m going to send her a reward for finding my message in the little jar. Seeing her happy face and hearing how excited she was to find that message on the beach is such a joy!”
Roger runs In8 Motivation and delivers workshops and one-on-one coaching to companies and individuals in New York, using mindful meditation for stress management and building motivation for improved performance.
He’s planning to offer the same service from Donegal next year.
