OCEAN CITY, Md. -- On the one year anniversary of Gavin Knupp's death, family and friends gathered on the 36th Street Beach in Ocean City. Surf boards in hand, gearing up for a memorial paddle out into the ocean.
By 5 o'clock, hundreds of people had converged on the beach, all of them there for one purpose: honoring Gavin Knupp.
"We're surrounded by our family and friends and our community and we're just here to celebrate Gavin and his legacy," said Tiffany Knupp, Gavin's mother. "You know, it's a tough day for us."
The amount of people prepared to plunge into the water was a sight to behold. Once they were a good distance from the shore, people hung out in the water for a solid 15 minutes, all of them closely grouped together.
It reminded Summer Knupp, Gavin's sister, just how much love the community has for her late brother.
"It's overwhelming, as I was walking up to my car just then I was passing each person walking in and tears came in my eyes a little bit because you forget in a year how much support you have," said Summer.
Brody Grunewald, one of Gavin's friends, said Tuesday's paddle out is an important way to keep Gavin's name and memory alive.
"It's a Hawaiian tradition for surfers like Andy Irons, they do it every year and I think for us, Gavin is our Andy Irons," said Grunewald. "He is our special person and it's great to have him, you know, feel his presence with us out on the water where he loved."
But, Tuesday was also a day where Tiffany woke up counting down the hours until 11:07pm, the exact time Gavin died.
"I woke up this morning thinking you know, 12 hours later, 24 hours later my son dies, 10 hours later my son dies, it's just kind of, I don't think it's sunk in," said Tiffany.
Tiffany said on that day, she spoke with Gavin over the phone. During the conversation, Gavin convinced his mom to let him stay and hang out with friends and continue doing things he loved. It's the way Gavin hung up, however, that sticks out to Tiffany.
"He begged me, he was like 'Mom, I'm having a really good day, we're surfing, we're skating, please let me stay' and I was like 'okay you can stay but charge you're phone'," said Tiffany. "And normally when Gavin hangs up the phone he's like 'alright bye' and hangs up and he told me he loves me like three times..."
"...he was like thank you for letting me stay, I'm having the best day ever and that was the last time I talked to my son, so waking up knowing that he had a really good day that day."
But it is not Gavin's death his family wants people to remember.
"We want people to just remember him as a caring, loving person who was very into trying to do everything and wanted to be a part of everything and help as many people out as possible," said Summer.
Just ask some of Gavin's friends and extended family, and all will echo Summer's thoughts.
"Every time we were always hanging out and it was a bad moment, he'd always lighten us up and always made us laugh," said Adam Lawson, Gavin's cousin.
"It was always easy to talk to him about anything he would just sit there and listen," said Seth Ashcraft, Gavin's friend.
"The night before he passed, me and him actually went to go watch the sunset together," said April Bondurant, Gavin's friend. "That is something I will never forget."
Everyone who continues to love and support the Knupp family, rallying at a spot that was near and dear to Gavin's heart.
"This beach right here, 36th Street, this is where he surfed all the time so I call it Gavin's Beach now," said Grunewald.
Gavin's Beach, playing host to an incredible event for an incredible 14-year old kid.