Messages in a bottle come full circle

This time of year, thoughts of a special person are ever present in the minds and hearts of those who loved him.

Tanner Tucker was one of a kind.

The close-knit group of friends of his were one of a kind.

Those who know the story of notes in the bottle tossed into the sea being found by a one-of-a-kind person – believe it comes from a higher power.

A random text message resurrected a memory for Sam Stratton when he heard from Clint Buffington earlier this year. Clint Buffington wasn’t in Stratton’s names that readily pop up, but the man had something vital to share.

Buffington told Stratton, “I think I have something of yours that I want to tell you about.”

Stratton said he was intrigued, but the email was so long. But, as he took the time to read through it, he knew it was something that would connect the two men and a lot of friends forever.

Flash back to 2011 when Stratton, along with a host of friends and their parents went on a cruise. It was the spring break of a lifetime – only one important friend was missing- Tanner Tucker.

Tucker had lost his life at the beginning of the school year in a tragic car accident. His death brought Stratton to his knees. They were friends from the beginning, and he means the beginning. “My mom has photos of Tanner and me when we were babies,” he noted. They went to the same church, school, and were close. Tucker had a lot of close friends. To meet him was to know him and a grieving class had to get through the school year without one of their dearest friends. “He made friends with everyone,” Stratton said.

On the cruise, Stratton was the one designated to throw the bottle with numerous messages inside about Tanner, into the tropical seas. He tossed the bottle without ever thinking someone would reply.

Here’s where Buffington comes into the story. He found the bottle, which was just one of over 130 messages in bottles he has retrieved since 2007 when he and his father began the hobby. He told Stratton he found his first message in a bottle in 2007 on the same Caribbean Island as he did the one to Tanner. His dad was also along on this trip. He said he spends every spare minute and dollar tracking down bottled messages on uninhabited islands.

“One bottle I found that day was different from all the others I have ever found,” Buffington wrote. This goes back to the one-of-a-kind story. He said when he stumbled upon it he nearly fell over it and the bottle seemed to say ‘Hello there! You’ve never seen anything like me’.

The bottle held the hearts of so many South Ripley students as they wrote messages to and about their beloved friend, Tanner. Some of the verbiage went like this: “I can’t wait to see you someday. We love you. Thank you for letting us know you. Buffington noted that some of the wording was faded and hard to read and it became a job of deciphering what was going on. He said, “It became clear that I was reading messages from a whole class of kids who were on their senior trip, all commemorating someone named Tanner.” When he got to the 19th message he knew. It read, “Tan, oh my, what can I say? I mean, it’s been 7 months without you here and it seems like yesterday. I’ve needed you here on countless occasions and I’ve had to learn…actually been miserable without you. Nothing’s the same. I hope wherever you are, it’s the best place you’ve ever been. Maybe I’m foolish for wishing you were here but who can blame me? You were the best person I’ve ever had the pleasure of calling a friend…heart…” This note he would learn was from Meredith Knollman (now Gehl).

Tanner is the son of Trace and Denise Tucker. Denise shared this: “It is impossible to limit my recollections of Tanner to one story; however, a few anecdotal flashbacks highlight his helpful, selfless, giving character. Tanner always carried in our groceries, but would insist on carrying in about twenty, or more, plastic bags at once because he wanted to be helpful, but also desired to challenge himself in a silly way which always made me laugh. It was during a hot day that summer when I arrived home to find that Tanner had trimmed all twenty-six of our shrubs, including “monster bush,” and he had done so without even being asked! Also, when we were doing our back-to-school shopping, the week prior to his death, he told Trace and me, “Just buy me a pack of mechanical pencils, and use that additional money to buy Ty and Toria extra supplies or clothes. Lastly, Tanner worked that last summer supervising a water pressure cleaning squad. He also umpired baseball, tutored privately, and baled hay/straw regularly at the Tucker farm. (He actually spent the last day of his life baling.) Out of the blue, Tanner pulled out $75 of his hard-earned cash, handed it to me, and insisted that Trace and I use it to go on a date. I remember thinking at the time, “What teenager does this? Truly, an extremely special, one-of-a-kind person!” And, although we were only blessed with seventeen years of his earthly presence, Tanner’s love….as well as these recaptured messages of love, continue to live on.”