title: The Message
author: Forbes, Mary Jane
description: He tossed a bottle into the ocean. She found a message she couldn't resist. Did destiny bring them together across the divide? The fictional story, The Message, was triggered by an event that happened to me and my family beginning the morning of December 29, 1999. My family, including my nine-year-old grandson Matthew, threw wine bottles, each containing a message, into the Atlantic Ocean off the beach of Newburyport, Massachusetts. A year and four months later, Matthew's bottle was found by a young boy by the name of Matthieu who was with his grandmother on the beach Saint Jean de Monts, France. Matthieu's English teacher, Marie, placed a call, the telephone number written on the message in the bottle, from the Headmaster's office, Pornic, France, to Matthew's home in Nashua, New Hampshire, USA. The connection, shore to shore, was made.