A message in a bottle that washed up on the beach at Hammonasset State Park Thursday may not have traveled far, but it has linked two people with a similar story.
The bottle was given to Jim Diamond, 19, who was working at the park entrance gate, and he decided to look at the note that was written and stuffed inside the bottle.
"I thought 'oh well, this is kind of a joke.' You know, it's just another message in a bottle type of thing," Diamond said. "When I actually got it open and started reading it, I was amazed and shocked."
The note was placed into the brown beer bottle and cast into Long Island Sound by a woman named Ashley, on Wednesday -- the one year anniversary of her mother's death. She said she did it to help her cope with her pain.
It was something Diamond could relate to, having lost his father in September.
"This bottle is really cool because it shows me there are other people going through the same things I am going through," Diamond said.
Ashley said she hopes to speak to Jim soon, and hopes her experience as a high school counselor, along with their shared experience of loss, will allow them to help each other through a difficult time for both.
