This week's Featured Phone is in Ocean Falls, British Columbia, Canada; Toni created this beautiful Wind Phone at the Link Lake picnic area. Her story has touched my heart; she talks of spreading her stepfather and stepbrother’s ashes there. Thank you, Toni, for sharing this beautiful story of your phone with us.
Weekly, I shine a light on the story of a beautifully created and placed Wind Phone. Sharing our stories makes a difference because it's in doing so that we connect and heal. To not cloud the Wind Phone creator's message, the format for Featured Phones is to share their answers to the interview questions verbatim.
Where is your Wind Phone located?
Ocean Falls, BC, Canada
At Link Lake picnic area, across the footbridge.
What year and month did you place your Wind Phone at this location?
July 2023
Why did you choose this location?
There was a marker placed very near here several years ago, back in the bushes, but overlooking a small inlet of Link Lake. It is a beautiful, quiet place that just seemed so appropriate.
Is your Wind Phone dedicated or in memory of someone special?
I saw an article in the CBC two years ago, about a wind phone set up in Port Moody, BC. At the time, it struck a chord with me as we live in remote Ocean Falls, a place that had once had a large, healthy population, but which was decimated when the pulp mill was shut down in the early 80’s.
Generations of families who once called Ocean Falls home, were now scattered in the breeze. As the children that grew up here have grown old and became parents and grandparents, they still continue to think of Ocean Falls as their hometown, and those that can make it here have come back to scatter their loved one’s ashes in the place that they feel that they most belong. The graveyard is closed, but we thought that the wind phone could be a place to commemorate those people in their family, to have a place where their name could be written and be remembered by others.
In my own family, my brother and his wife have been holding on to the ashes of my stepfather and stepbrother, not knowing where they could scatter them to rest. We finished the wind phone in time for them to bring them to Ocean Falls, and finally let them go in this beautiful place surrounded by the peace of nature they both loved. We have dedicated this wind phone to them as important members of our family that were not related by blood but were instead bonded to us by love. We were surprised to find that the thing we initially set up to comfort others, ended up being something that we ourselves could find comfort in.
Do you have any advice for someone considering creating a Wind Phone?
Building a wind phone will bring to mind all the people you have lost in your life and give you an opportunity to spend time with each of them. Many people need to write the names of their loved ones. We have left a book to write in and information on how to order small, engraved plates that we will install if they have them mailed to us. I have been surprised by the number of people that the wind phone has immediately touched and have felt compelled to add a box of tissue to the shelf.
I'd love to feature your phone! You can find all the information here to submit your Wind Phone.
Please note that visiting a Wind Phone location is at your own risk. We (My Wind Phone) cannot and do not assume responsibility for your visit. See our Terms and Conditions. here to submit your Wind Phone.
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