A teenage girl who wrote a letter to her late father on his birthday, was in for an unexpected response when her message was read.
Ashlynn Marracino wrote a letter to her dad on a star-shaped balloon to mark his birthday at the start of the year. The teen, who was missing her dad, shared her pain of missing her father, asking him to show her a sign that he was listening.
Sending her balloon up into the air, the 16-year old wasn’t expecting a reply.
That was until a restaurant manager stumbled upon the teen’s request in her customer car park.
Speaking to ABC News, Lisa Swisley said:
"I showed up at my restaurant and a customer handed it to me. I noticed there was writing on it and I got very teary-eyed."
The balloon had travelled 436 miles to Auburn, California from her home in Whittier, California.
After reading the letter on the balloon, Swisley contacted Ashlynn on Facebook, but decided to take things into her own hand:
"I thought it would be cool to send her something to show my support. I jumped on a pay-it-forward page I follow on Facebook, and asked people to contribute."
Members of the Auburn community began sending Ashlynn care packages, letters and words of support from their own experiences of coping with loss.
Since their story has gone public, Swisley and Ashlynn have connected via Skype and Swisley says she is inspired by the young woman:
"I think she is adorable and a really sweet girl. I asked her if she wanted the balloon back and she said if people can see it and be inspired, we should keep it here.
“She is an amazing young lady.”
Now that's a pretty amazing sign.
