Odd News
TV news report brings two long-lost brothers together
Two brothers, who did not know of each other’s existence, were brought together by a “surreal” series of events.
Randy Waites, of California, had tuned in to watch the local TV news when he discovered his long-lost brother. He was watching a KCRA 3 newscast about snowfall in Lake Tahoe when he noticed that the man being interviewed shared his last name.
Randy, who grew up without knowing his father, immediately wondered if there could be a connection between him and Eddie Waites, who was being interviewed on TV, since they shared the same last name.
His suspicions were confirmed by his daughter.
“I saw [Eddie’s] features and he actually looked a lot like my dad in the eyes. I did my research, searched up his name, looked up all I could,” she told reporters.
The two spoke over the phone soon afterwards. “It just clicked, like we’ve been friends for 20 years,” Randy said. “It’s just unbelievable.”
For his part, Eddie was equally surprised – but the family resemblance convinced him he really had found his long-lost brother.
“It was an instantaneous chill all the way from my head all the way down to my toes,” Eddie Waites said. “At first I thought, it’s not possible. Once I seen a picture of him, I seen my dad. I seen our dad. I knew it was real.”
The two met for the first time on Saturday. A picture from the meeting was shared online by a relative.
The brothers are now making up for lost time. “I’ve never met my father, never saw a picture of him my entire life,” Randy said. “Eddie has been texting me all kinds of different stuff, pictures of my grandfather, and filling in on the family history that I never had on that side.”
“This is almost an out-of-body experience,” Eddie added. “The whole thing is surreal. To have not only a brother, but a family I never knew existed is beyond words. It’s unbelievable.” -ndtv.com
Odd News
Message in bottle floats from Canada to Ireland in 13 years
A message in a bottle launched by visitors to Newfoundland’s Bell Island was found washed up on an Irish beach nearly 13 years later, after apparently crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
Kate Gay said she was walking a Dingle Peninsula beach this week when she spotted the wine bottle with a sheet of paper inside.
Gay showed the bottle to members of Creative Ireland NeartnaMacharaí during a meeting at her house that evening, and they broke the bottle open.
The note, written by a couple named Brad and Anita, was dated Sept. 12, 2012. The letter described the couple’s day trip to Bell Island.
There was a phone number on the letter, but there was no answer when group members tried to call.
The Maharees Heritage and Conservation group posted photos of the bottleto social media on Monday, and within an hour group members were messaging with Anita.
Group member Martha Farrell said Anita reported that she and Brad had married in 2016 and are still together to this day. -upi.com
Odd News
Woman earns world record for collection of 15,485 egg cups
A Spanish woman who has been collecting egg cups for over 50 years earned a Guinness World Record when her collection was tallied at 15,485 items.
María José Fuster recruited two witnesses to help her tally her collection at a community center in her hometown of Campo, Spain.
Fuster’s collection includes multiple patterns, colors, designs and even novelty cups bearing the images of characters including Superman, Betty Boop and Garfield.
Fuster maintains two blogs related to her hobby — one to catalog each piece, and one to list the names of the people who have donated egg cups to her collection.
Some of her most prized egg cups, about 1,143 of them, are currently on display at a local museum.
-upi.com
