Telephone of the Wind: A healing experience for anyone who has lost a loved one
The Telephone of the Wind is an outlet for those who have a message they wish to share with their lost friends and family. It is a phone for memories and saying the goodbyes you never got to say.
A Telephone of the Wind is an unconnected phone where visitors can hold one-way conversations with deceased loved ones. Connected to nothing but your heart and imagination.
The first “Wind Phone” was created by a garden designer in Japan in 2010 to help him cope with the death of his cousin. While there may be different names to these phones the concept is the same…
a tool to help in the grieving process.
You can visit the VNA & Blue Water Hospice Telephone of the Wind at any time. The phone is located on the grounds of the Blue Water Hospice Home (2795 Edison Drive, Marysville, MI 48040) next to the Tom Lock Observatory.
How the Booth Came to Be
Local Boy Scout builds Telephone of the Wind at Blue Water Hospice Home as Eagle Project
Lucas Ebmeyer, a local scout with Troop 216 - Marysville, chose VNA & Blue Water Hospice (VNA & BWH) and the Telephone of the Wind as his Eagle Project. Lucas wanted his project to be meaningful, something that would benefit the community.
In 2023, Lucas and his mom were volunteering at the VNA & BWH annual River Run fundraiser providing traffic assistance when they started talking about hospice. Lucas knew his grandmother had been in hospice care in her final days. Michele was young when her mom became ill, with her sister living out of state, the responsibilities of daily care were on her. She found a facility in Ann Arbor that was a blessing to her. She shared with Lucas that at the time, the Blue Water Hospice Home hadn’t been built and no other facility in the area offered care specifically for Hospice patients.
Contemplating where he wanted to devote his time for the Eagle Project – the Blue Water Hospice Home immediately came to mind. After learning of the various possible projects at the Hospice Home, he wanted to do the Telephone of the Wind. The Telephone of the Wind started in Japan by a gentleman who developed this idea of a phone connected to nothing, it was helpfulto him as he grieved the loss of his cousin. It provided an opportunity to ‘talk’ to his loved one once again. Lucas recently experienced the loss of a friend. Upon learning the purpose of the Telephone of the Wind, he felt immediately drawn to it- not only as an Eagle Project butrecognized this would be something meaningful to all of those who have experienced a loss.
The project spanned an entire year – planning started July 2023 and the final plaque was affixed November 2024. There were various phases such as constructing the team, design, fundraising, building, installation, and presentation.
First, he had to find help. He didn’t know woodworking, and needed to find someone to help him design it, determine a materials list, and assist/teach him to build it. That help came from a fellow Eagle Scout, Justin Wilton. Justin, Lucas’ project coach and former member of Troop 216, was happy to help a fellow scout acquire the high honor of Eagle.
With design plans and a materials list ready he had to fundraise to purchase needed supplies. Lucas approached family and friends and with the help of his grandfather, together, they raised the funds.
Time to build it! This was a long process to do it correctly. As Justin said to Lucas “we can use nails and screws and throw it together in a few hours, but, if you take your time and build it correctly, it will last longer”. Always the prepared scout and planning for the future…Lucas wanted this to last. The booth was built from cedar, knowing it would age well, but also have that desired rustic look to fit in with the surroundings. Alongside the booth is a bench that needed some love and care. The bench was donated by a church in St. Clair but was rusty and all thewood slats needed replacing.
Now for installation! First, the cement foundation, ensuring safety for visitors, needed to be poured and cured. Then came the booth. Lucas found a unique 1930s style phone online. While the price was a little more than he planned to spend, he wrote to the seller explaining the project. The seller was kind to lower the price since it was for such a meaningful project! For the final touches, Lucas recruited and led troop members, friends, siblings, and parents to do a fall clean-up at the Blue Water Hospice Home.
Along the way, Lucas learned many skills from planning, design, working with wood, metal and cement, to leadership skills such as schedules and delegating tasks. There is no doubt that Lucas is one to watch as he will surely do ‘meaningful’ things in the Blue Water Area and beyond!
