They say that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone and that is absolutely the case for 16-year-old Ashlynn Marracino.

When she was younger, her father was in prison and she wanted nothing to do with him. During the years he was in prison he sent her hundreds of handmade cards and letters but Ashlynn refused to write back. Even after her dad was released, she still did everything she could to avoid his calls…even his last one. After his passing, Ashlynn felt extremely guilty for the lack of time spent with her father and wanted to do something to let him know that he loved him. She has been sending a balloon to heaven on his birthday every year, in hopes to make up for all the years she ignored him.

The balloon didn’t make it all the way to heaven but it did make it to a restaurant 450 miles north of Ashlynn. On the balloon, she asked her dad for a sign and she believes that this is it. Ashlynn’s story is a great life lesson the remind us to love those around us as much as we can because you might not always have them with you.

SHARE this touching story on Facebook!