People have been sharing sweet messages after seeing a bottle washing up on a beach.
According to BBC Manchester, the bottle of ashes was sent out to sea by Cara Melia, 24, from Oldham.
Cara revealed that her mother, 51-year-old Wendy Chadwick, had never been able to realise her dream of travelling the world during her lifetime, because of her responsibilities as a single parent of five.
So in a poignant move following Wendy’s death from an undiagnosed heart condition, Cara put her mother’s ashes in a bottle.
She accompanied the cremains with a sweet note, which read: ‘This is my mum. Throw her back in – she’s travelling the world. Thanks Cara, Oldham.’
Cara then put the bottle in the sea at Skegness, saying she anted to see where Wendy ‘ends up’.
Just 12 hours later, someone found the bottle on the same beach.
They shared the story on Facebook, where their post went viral.
A note accompanying Wendy Chadwick’s ashes, written by her daughter Cara Melia, said her mother was travelling the world
The bottle has since been returned to the sea, with Cara telling BBC Radio Manchester she hopes it will travel further this time.
‘Life happened and my mum never got a chance to travel,’ Cara said. ‘Nobody was meant to find her for a bit – she was meant to be in a completely different country.
‘I’d love her to end up on a beach in Barbados or Spain, which would definitely take a while.’
Describing her mother, Cara said she was ‘very quirky’ and that she loved the beach and sun.
She added that she had been surprised about how viral the Facebook post as gone, saying she had not expected the story to touch so many people.
In a post shared about the story on the BBC’s Instagram page, people shared some sweet messages.
One Instagram user described the bottle of ashes and accompanying messages as ‘heartbreakingly beautiful’
One wrote: ‘That’s so heartbreakingly beautiful.’
Another added: ‘Absolutely beautiful. And absolutely heartbreaking.
‘I hope people respect this.
‘Enjoy your travels Wendy Chadwick – have the fun and adventures you clearly deserve.’
In a similar vein, a third added: ‘Love this!! I really hope she gets to visit some far and distant shores!!’
‘Maybe I’ll have my ashes travel like this! I love the water,’ wrote another.
People shared sweet messages on the post – with many calling it beautiful, and one saying it ‘made me cry’
A further Instagram user simply wrote: ‘So beautiful.’
Sharing their own similar experience, one respondent added: ‘That’s lovely. My sister and I took some of Mum’s ashes to some of the most beautiful places in the world bc she didn’t get to travel either.’
Further posters shared well wishes.
One said: ‘May she encounter kind souls to continue her journey.’
And another said: ‘Made me cry. Travel safe mom.’
