Saturday, May 15, 2010

Messages in Bottles

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 4:05 AM
From:"Vickie Jacobs-Stanton"
To: 1candleschoolhouse@gmail.com

Diane I have found a bottle that you put in the ocean in 1994 for your grandson Birthday. My name is Vickie Jacobs Stanton. 
Thus began a series of astonishing emails,  a video newscast, a newspaper article, and a fresh blog posting from good friend, Dominque Cimafranca, all which can be retraced by following the link at the end of his email:
Hi, Diane,
Just read the story now, and yes, it sends shivers down my spine.  I'm so worked up, but in a good way.  I wrote another post on this, it's really just the story from my perspective, but the thing that struck me most I wrote in the postscript --
"In a way, it feels just right that Vickie solved the mystery only when she put Bill's name with Diane: in my mind, they will always be "Bill and Diane." Bill passed away last year, and Diane continues her work with the kids in Bonbonon. I met Diane just a couple of weeks ago when she told me this story, but I didn't realize until now how I was part of it."
By the way, a reporter from the paper wrote me; I'll copy you in my response:
"Hi, Mike,...I met up with Diane two weeks ago.  It had been a while since we had seen each other: I moved to another city thee years ago, and she'd spent time back Stateside to take care of Bill.

Some business brought me back to Dumaguete, and by chance, Diane had just written me back.  She was also back in Dumaguete.

Over lunch, she told me the story about the message in a bottle an how this woman had found it, after 16 years.  Of course I was astonished!  You don't hear stories like that nowadays, especially not firsthand.

Two days ago, she mentioned a postscript to the story, about how my blog had figured in the search.  I remember only feeling glad that I had been of help, but I didn't realize the significance.  Only after I read her email and followed the links to your paper did it all hit me.  Anyhow, I wrote up another short post on this:
http://www.villageidiotsavant.com/2010/05/how-my-blog-helped-deliver-message-in.html


Dominique Gerald M. Cimafranca"