BUFFALO, N.Y. — A bottled message written years ago by a Buffalo woman and tossed into the ocean is now uniting two families across international lines.

When Rita Ganim visited her daughter and son-in-law in Gloucester, Massachusetts in August 2000, she had no idea a note she penned then would resurface on the shores of Nova Scotia.

Ganim told Spectrum News she put the message in a plastic bottle and sent it off into Ipswich Bay.

It was a simple note that read: “Hi Friend, I am a visitor to Gloucester. I hope you will let me know if you find this. Cheers, Rita.”

Last Wednesday, the 18-year-old note was found by 11-year-old Dallas Goreham at Lower Woods Harbor in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Dallas’ mother, Tara Goreham, told Spectrum News her son wanted to find Rita, but the email in the note was no longer working.

A Google search revealed Rita was once a columnist for The Buffalo News.

"I never thought about [the letter] again ‘til I got the email from Mrs. Goreham," said Rita Ganim.

The two families hope to meet in-person in the near future.

"Since my daughter designs sea glass and I thought ‘what a coincidence,’ but I wonder if it’s really a coincidence? Maybe it was meant to be,” added Ganim.