A woman named Kelly Sheridan and her kid's day at the beach turned into a now-viral adventure that has people around the world captivated. Earlier this week, on June 3, Sheridan took to Facebook to share pictures of a bottle that washed up on shore with a handwritten letter and free-floating ashes. “This is my mum. Throw her back in. She’s traveling the world," it read.
The letter was signed by Cara Melia from the UK, who knew her mom, Wendy Chadwick, always wanted to travel, but life as a single mom of five made that nearly impossible.
So, after Wendy’s unexpected death in February from an undiagnosed heart condition, Cara decided to give her the world tour she never got and threw her in the ocean.
The bottle set sail off the coast of Skegness while Cara was there on holiday, but she didn't get very far because it washed up just 12 hours later on the same beach.
"Can everyone please share this far and wide in the hope it finds Cara from Oldham!! We found this lovely lady earlier today at Butlins, Skegness Beach," Sheridan explained in her Facebook post. "She's been thrown back in the sea as requested... happy travels Cara's Mum," she continued.
Cara was also in the comments of the post, writing, “So to let everyone know, SHE STARTED AT SKEGNESS and she clearly hasn’t wanted to leave yet. Hopefully, there’ll be more updates if she’s gone back or landed anywhere different! xx”
After the post went viral, the 24-year-old told BBC Radio Manchester, "Nobody was meant to find her for a bit." “She was meant to be in a completely different country.”
She originally planned to scatter the ashes, but her cousin and best friend came up with the bottle idea. “My mum never got a chance to travel,” Cara said. “She absolutely loved the beach and sun,” and said her mum was "very quirky" and would no doubt be giggling about her unexpected adventure.
As for where she hopes her mum goes next, she explained, “I’d love her to end up on a beach in Barbados or Spain, which would definitely take a while.”
Sheridan's post also included a video of her sons throwing the bottle back into the ocean. Because the internet is the internet, some negative Nancys were doubting it would go very far, saying it washed back up 15 minutes later, and another suggested it cracked after the kid threw it in.