River’s grandmother initially thought the note was recent, saying, “There was no date on the letter, so I thought maybe [it was from] this year, maybe last year at most.” But when his teacher later confirmed that the message dated back to 1998, the family was astonished. To make the moment even more special, the teacher decided to surprise Van Eyk’s daughter, Scarlet—who happens to be River’s classmate—by reading the letter aloud in class. Scarlet recalled the surprise fondly: “Everyone was like, ‘Who’s that? Who’s that?’ And I was like, ‘My mother!’” The moment became a touching reminder of how small gestures from the past can unexpectedly bridge generations.
Woman finds a message in a bottle 26 years after it was thrown in a lake — by her mother
Mom's childhood note sealed in bottle reaches her daughter 26 years after it was released into lake.
In today’s fast-paced, tech-centered world, handwritten letters feel like rare treasures, connecting us to memories and emotions that span across years. A beautiful example of this is Makenzie Van Eyk’s message in a bottle, which she set adrift in Lake St. Clair as a fourth-grader in 1998. Remarkably, 26 years later, this letter found its way to her own daughter, Scarlet, through an unexpected and heartwarming twist. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the bottle was discovered at the same spot where Van Eyk released it—by kindergartener River Vandenberg, who, like Van Eyk, attends St. John the Baptist Catholic Elementary School in Belle River.
Further, the report the outlet claims that when Van Eyk was informed about her 26-year-old letter being found, she was utterly surprised and revealed that she definitely "wasn't thinking about it often." Moreover, she shared how printing this letter was the first thing she did after her school got a computer lab. "It was memorable to do something like that, throw something and think maybe someone will find it later," Van Eyk added.
The incident sparked excitement and the retired teacher who had assigned the task to the 1998 batch was also contacted and informed about the letter. An emotional Roland St. Pierre expressed his feelings and stated that it was a "real shock" for him. But, at the same time, he was happy that the letter could survive inside a bottle for 26 years withstanding the passage of time. "It was wild. I've got a lot of ties to this building. I taught for 33 years here. It's close to me. I had forgotten all about it, so it was a real shock," the former teacher concluded.
In the letter, Van Eyk elaborated on her experience of reading a book that she thoroughly enjoyed. The letter read, "My letter is about water in the Great Lakes. We read a book called 'Paddle-to-the-Sea'. The story was about a little boy who carved a paddle person out of wood and put it in the water and it traveled through all the Great Lakes. Do you know that all the Great Lakes spell HOMES? I thought that was pretty cool."
Besides, Van Eyk talked about learning water cycles and how they get rid of "germs" in the letter. She wrote, "The water has been there since God created the world. Isn't it funny to think that you might be drinking the same water Jesus did?" Interestingly enough, at the end of the note, Van Eyk mentioned one to contact St. John the Baptist School if the letter was found, which eventually happened in reality. The old letter made its way to Van Eyk's daughter, 26 years after it was released into the lake.
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