A little over a year after Annie Schmidt’s body was recovered from the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, her father dedicated a song titled “The Sweetest Gift” to her and others mourning the loss of loved ones during the holiday season. 

Jon Schmidt — the pianist and a songwriter for Utah musical group The Piano Guys — posted the song in a video on Wednesday, Dec. 20, on The Piano Guys Facebook page.

Along with the video, Jon Schmidt wrote, “When I lost my daughter last year, I heard many stories from people that are struggling with their own grief. The world could use some more love. This Christmas, give the gift of service!” 

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The video begins with Jon Schmidt discussing the loss of Annie and how he and his family coped with the loss last Christmas.

“People talk about grief, pain, fear, sorrow,” Jon Schmidt says in the video. “All of these words can’t really describe how you feel when you really go through the loss of a loved one. And even though we held on to hope that we would somehow see her again, it was just a brutal time that we were going through, right at Christmas.”

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The video, which had more than 31,700 shares and 1.1 million views a little more than 24 hours after the post was made, garnered comments from fans who thanked the group for the song, reminiscing about the loss of family and friends during the holiday season. 

“Thank you for sharing this beautiful song and message with us,” Melissa Walton Boyce wrote in a comment on the video post. “Christmas can be a difficult time of year. For my family, it’s a reminder of our Tim who passed away in Iraq 12 years ago this month…Thank you for your words and message of comfort, and we are so sorry for your loss.”

Julie Stokes, who wrote that she lost her 27-year-old daughter to suicide five years ago, also thanked the group for the song.

“Thanks for sharing!” Stokes wrote. “We miss her every day, but the holidays are especially empty without her here. This is a beautiful song. Thank you from a parent who knows how much we miss our loved ones.”

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Annie Schmidt, 21, went missing on October 16, 2016, when she went hiking alone in the mountains of the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Law enforcement suspended a search of the trails on Oct. 23. Annie’s body was found Nov. 11, 2016. Her remains were found near the bottom of a cliff near Munra Point. Officials later ruled her death accidental, saying they believed she slipped and fell from the cliffs above and died on impact.