Have you ever written a message in a bottle?
When 25-year-old Anna Molinari was a sophomore in high school, she spent a semester at sea with a group of her classmates, sailing between the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
While she was on that boat, she put a message in a bottle and threw it into the water.
Six weeks later, after Anna had returned to Rhode Island, she received a handwritten letter from a 17-year-old boy named Sumner Mattingly, worked as a fisherman in North Carolina.
Anna and Sumner stayed in touch – and even met up for dinner one time. At that time, they were just friends as Anna already had a boyfriend.
And after that quick meeting, they continued to write back-and-forth … for the next eight years. Their relationship grew deeper. And recently, they got back together as girlfriend and boyfriend.
Anna, who is now a fashion designer with her own brand, admits she and Sumner – who still works as a fisherman for his family’s company – would not have met without that message in the bottle.
"I think it's just really cool that two people from two completely different walks of life were able to connect like this," Anna said.
The story – and the relationship – rolls on. Neither Anna nor Sumner know how things are going to unfold in the future. But for now, they’re enjoying a fun fling – and appreciating the unique way they connected eight years ago. (Yahoo)