In 2009 my dad found a message in a bottle. Look at this thing!

That’s the real deal, friends and neighbors. At first he thought it was some kind of love letter written on an envelope, which said “For my Walter” but, it’s hard to read messages through wavy glass. Once he got it out, we realized that it says “For my waiter” in six different languages.

I’ve never been on a cruise, but I assume that this was a tip envelope for a waiter on a cruise ship. I’m sure, of course, that anyone romantic enough to send a message in a bottle would have left a tip despite throwing the envelope overboard 🙂

Now, the big question was: what would be inside the envelope? Money? A letter? A picture? Another envelope?

As it turned out, the envelope was empty.

And the envelope itself is blank:

OR IS IT?! Look again:

Now, get closer:

As you can see, if you hold this thing up to the lighting just right, you can see the indentations left by the pen of the writer.

One day, my dad and I spent an afternoon squinting at this thing and holding it up to the light at fifty different angles, using magnifying glasses…

Eventually, we were able to transcribe it, and here’s what it said:

“June 5th 2005 1:10 a.m.

To whom it may concern, this is a message in a bottle. It was thrown from a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship called Mariner of the Seas. If you receive this and are willing to do so, please write back. It would be interesting to see if this works.

Our address is: Keith McComas and Kristy Suttle 204 Wilson Rd Lebanon, TN 37087

P.S. Mom says hi!!!”

Next, we contacted a newspaper in Lebanon, TN, and they ran a story to help us connect with the senders, which you can read here:

Message in a Bottle Leads to Lebanon

But alas, we have heard nothing back, and it has been seven months. I have begun to wonder whether they still live in Tennessee, or if they have moved somewhere else? In the meantime, I have combed through Facebook, sending messages to people named Keith McComas and Kristy Suttle, but haven’t heard back.

So, now, we turn to you. Oh, all-powerful interwebs… If you know a Keith McComas or a Kristy Suttle, please please please tell me!

If you don’t know a Keith McComas or a Kristy Suttle, you can still help: share this post on your facebook page, twitter, “like” the post, etc., and encourage others to share. If we work together, we can find these folks!