A bottle containing a 10-year-old's message to the world was found more than a decade after it was thrown into the ocean, and just over two years after the young woman died. The bottle was found by workers during clean-up from Hurricane Sandy.
"Be excellent to yourself dude," was what New York City resident Sidonie Fery wrote in the ginger ale bottle, a line from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Fery died in 2010 after an accident while studying in Switzerland.
The bottle was found in Patchogue, Long Island, only a mile or two from where Fery had thrown the bottle into the Great South Bay. Workers cleaning up debris after Hurricane Sandy found the bottle and the note, and because it had Fery's New York City phone number, were able to deliver the message to Fery's mother.
The town of Patchogue is now honoring Fery with a plaque commemorating her life.
"It's unbelievable," Fery's mother said of the commemoration. "The town is amazing, my daughter was a lovely and lively person and very fun, she would do fun things. She always brought joy to everybody no matter how she felt."
[Associated Press]