By Kim Ploughman
Brad and Anita Squires were in the throes of early romance when they picnicked on Bell Island on September 14, 2012. With love and laughter as witnesses, Brad cast their empty wine bottle into Conception Bay. Sealed inside was a handwritten message: “Anita and Brad’s day trip to Bell Island. Today, we enjoyed dinner, this bottle of wine and each other, at the edge of the island.”
Speaking by phone from their home, Brad, a retired RCMP Officer, recalls that memorable day. “We were young and thought it would be romantic, but truthfully, we figured it smashed into the cliffs before it hit the water,” he says, admitting that they “never thought about it again,” until one ordinary evening when their phones lit up like a Christmas tree. The unexpected had happened. Someone had found their message in a bottle.
Nearly 13 years later across the Atlantic, on July 7th, 2025, Kate and Jon Gay were walking their dog on Maharees Beach, in County Kerry, Ireland, when they came upon the bottle, nestled in seaweed. Unbeknownst to them, it had bobbed far and wide to reach its destination. That evening, gathered with other members of the Maharees Conservation Association, they opened the bottle, excitedly dialling the number on the paper. With no answer, they took to social media. Within hours, the “message about the message in the bottle” went viral.
Back home in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, Anita and Brad were stunned when they opened their social media to discover their past had come ashore. “That’s us!” they exclaimed, and connected with the Gays and their guests. One of the first questions was simple, but profound: “We’re dying to know if you are still together?” Anita and Brad married in 2016 and have had three children, Allie, Gabe and Harrison.
In the days that followed, Anita and Brad’s lives spiralled into a flurry of media calls and interviews. An emergency room nurse, Anita reflected on the moment and shared that they had “never told a soul” about the message.
“It was a special moment between us. We didn’t need approval or likes. We just loved each other. Now, all of a sudden, this private moment years ago was beamed out into the world,” she recalls, adding that reluctance turned into acceptance. “There was so much bad news everywhere, we decided to share this uplifting story.”
A podcast interview with Ben Mulroney led to an invitation from WestJet and Tourism Ireland. Though the couple had planned a trip to Ireland for their tenth anniversary in 2026, they decided to go early. On August 27th, Anita and Brad flew over the same sea as their message traversed, for five days in the Emerald Isle. A native of Prince Edward Island with Irish ancestry (Moran surname), Anita shares that she’s proud of her roots and “very tuned into the place.” A curated trip was planned, including a meet with the Gays and other members of the group, a stay in a castle, and a walk along the beach with Kate and Jon to see exactly where the bottle had been discovered.
At Spillane’s Bar, which celebrated its 150th anniversary, the owners (with their own family connections to Newfoundland) pulled out a treasured old bottle of Screech, serving the last drops to the couple.
“It was all so sweet and special, we felt like royalty,” Anita enthused, with Brad adding that the bottle couldn’t have been found by two nicer people. “Kate and Jon are beautiful and thoughtful folks.”
Brad chuckles, noting he and Anita still delight in “little dates and travelling.” He adds that he hopes their children will look back at these stories and “remember how much their parents loved each other.”
Sending a message in a bottle is an act of faith, throwing your story to the sea and trusting that tides and time will deliver it to the right shores and into the right hands, however unlikely. When asked to reflect on the journey of not just the couple, but the bottle itself, Anita marvelled at the vessel’s resiliency.
“How did that tiny bottle ever make it across those waters?” she questions. “For some reason, that fragile glass survived the throw, and then the tide and storms. Its seal didn’t leak, and the message was readable. It’s amazing how all things lined up.”
Brad and Anita’s children, meanwhile, were unfazed by their parents’ newfound limelight.
“They’re like, well, it’s fun to see you in the news, but we’re not surprised that you love each other.” This romantic time capsule proves that even the smallest gestures can stir great waters. What began as a playful token of young love launched into something bigger, building bridges and connecting dots across oceans.
