Ashley Hileman remembers many things about her father, especially his imaginative nature.
"My dad was definitely the adventurous type. Everything we did in life was somehow turned into a fun adventure," Hileman said.
She recalled one memory that stands out.
"When I was young, I remember we used to write our names and addresses on a balloon and we would let it go and we would hope for a phone call or a letter, and we got one back one time," Hileman said.
Her father, Jerry Whitt, died suddenly from liver disease. He was 55.
"My mom told me when he passed that she wanted to sprinkle some of his ashes into the ocean because he always wanted to see it and they didn't get the opportunity to go," Hileman said.
Her mom flew to Florida to see her sister. They had an idea to honor Jerry's memory. They would write a note and put his photo along with his ashes in a bottle and toss it into the ocean — a place he'd always wanted to visit, but never got the chance.
"Somehow it made it, traveling two years, it was found by a surfer in Spain in the ocean, right off of the coast," Hileman said.
Jerry died in 2018. His ashes were just found in August, 4,000 miles away off the Galician Coastline in the far northwestern coastline of Spain.
Amazingly, everything was still intact, with the exception of a little water obscuring the address on the letter inside.
"They assumed it was from the United Kingdom. Someone had read the story and was sent my mother's name and messaged her and said, Hey, there's a story about your husband and I hope this is your husband and sent her the picture," Hileman said.
The family held a ceremony on the beach, giving Jerry a proper sendoff. They recorded it and sent a copy to the Whitt's wife.
In the video, one surfer said: "We didn't expect to find you, but we are doing our best to do what you wanted to do, to see the ocean and be free."
"We couldn't meet Jerry or at least we didn't meet him physically but we did in a very special way."
"I'm glad that they took the bottle seriously because they didn't need and there was a lot of pain and memories inside of that bottle and this was such a happy ending for him and all of us, to say, 'Oh my gosh, he made it to this beautiful beach in Spain and he made it!' He just made it somewhere and someone found him," said Hileman.
Hileman said her family is thankful and happy they made new friends in Spain.