Message in a bottle found on Long Island warms the hearts of grieving family members of longtime teacher
SHINNECOCK BAY, N.Y. -- A school project on Long Island that started more than 30 years ago has finally come to an end.
In a study of currents, students tossed bottles into the ocean. One of those bottles has made a bittersweet homecoming.
Duck hunter Adam Travis often walks the Shinnecock Reservation beach. Last week, he noticed something had washed up -- a priceless treasure.
"A green bottle laying on top of the marsh. I see there was a letter in there," Travis said.
He carefully broke the glass and unscrolled a postcard dated 1992, with 19 cents postage, and the following message from Shawn and Ben from Mr. Brooks' class at Mattituck High School: "Dear finder, as a part of earth science project for 9th grade this bottle was thrown into the Atlantic ocean near Long Island."
He then posted his find on social media.
"Thirty minutes, it's like going viral," Travis said.
Hundreds of shares later, the son of teacher Richard Books responded.
"The timing of this was just amazing because my family is still grieving my dad. I welled up with tears and just pride," John Brooks said.
The beloved educator, who died in September, taught at Mattituck High School for 40 years. His students' bottles launched from Westhampton have been tracked across the globe.
"Most of them, if we heard something, it would be within a four-year process, and then some of them, obviously, took 32 years to come around," science teacher Eric Frend said.
Now, generations of students are sharing loving memories of their teacher.
"That shows that the things you do do matter, a lot, significantly. He had a significant impact," said Shawn Petretti, superintendent of the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District.
"It's so nice that my dad, who was never one to seek recognition or a pat on the back, now he's finally getting it," John Brooks said.
The bottle either didn't go very far or went all the way to Europe and back. In either case, Richard Brooks' son said it found its way home at just the right time.
"A gut punch to lose him like that, and then my sister, who was 49, my sister Heather, passed away in her sleep," John Brooks said. "This development is just such a shot in the arm of positivity and heartwarming energy."
"It's like he made his last trip around the ocean and came back," Travis said. "I'm just glad that I could return it."
That type of positivity John Brooks said he'll pay forward -- with a message in a bottle about his dad.
"Maybe 32 years later someone else will pick this up and have a smile on their face," he said.
The Mattituck-Cutchogue School District now plans to resume its message-in-a-bottle project.
