Sister honors late brother by making discs with sweet message for others to find and pass on

The best way to honor someone's memory is by keeping their legacy alive. This is exactly what Natalie Kelly is trying to do with her brother, who she tragically lost in a car accident in 2021, as per Yahoo. Though what she did not expect was that her attempt at keeping her brother's memory alive will touch so many people and transcend borders. In 2021, Kelly had to deal with the harshest blow life could offer when she got the news that her brother Nelson Kelly had lost his life in an accident. Nelson left behind a wife and son. 

The grief was overwhelming as the siblings have been very close since their childhood. They did a lot of things together but the activity that they enjoyed the most was playing disc golf. Disc Golf is played with frisbees and has rules similar to that of golf. The game is played on courses with nine to twelve holes. The siblings along with their friend Stewart used to regularly go on trips to play the sport and spend quality time together. The moments of happiness and joy are what Natalie misses the most in the absence of her brother. Opening up about the impact of Nelson's death, his sister said, “When he was killed, it crushed us all. I know my life is always going to be a little bit worse without him, and I have to live with that somehow."

Natalie has honored her brother's memory in many ways in the last two years. She has gotten a tattoo with the initials 'DEGU,' which was a fixture of her brother's license plated, and customized a few disc-golf discs. In the latter method, she wrote a special message on some disc-golf discs and placed them on her and Nelson's favorite courses in Ontario. Her hope was that whenever individuals will play this game, which was so loved by Nelson, they will honor his memory and through the sharing of that experience on social media, he will live on.

The message on the disc was, “This disc is in memory of Nelson Kelly, Please toss this hole for him, then leave it on the next hole for the next player. If found on the last hole, please take to a new course. Post pics on IG, #NelsonKelly952.” In order to cope with her grief, Natalie made an Instagram account for her brother where she regularly posts photos remembering him and his infectious energy. Natalie never thought at the time of placing these discs that her idea would travel so far and wide that it will cross countries. The discs have traveled many courses and parks in Ontario and has till date, garnered 65 posts under #NelsonKelly952. People have done what Natalie desired with enthusiasm - celebrated her brother and his life through their game. Adam Jacobs from Buffalo, New York State decided that this act should not stay limited to Canada and decided to take the disc to the USA. In an April 23 post on Facebook, he shared that he took the disc to America and captioned it: "Hope everyone keeps it moving."

Jacobs explained why this gesture touched his heart and the reason he wanted to spread it, “It's so hard when you lose somebody before it's their time to go. This is a great way for Nelson to be remembered. I wanted to move it on and keep it going.” Natalie is extremely happy seeing that her message has traveled to so many countries as she has received support from places like Germany, Spain as well as South Africa.