the spirit phone
"Death ends a life, but it doesn't end a relationship. We may still feel that there are things we have to say, thoughts which we wish to express, feelings we want to share." - Chris Buice, "The Spirit Phone"
During a sermon at my church focused on All Souls' Day, our reverend shared the story of Itaru Sasaki's "wind phone" -- how, in the wake of Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami, he had created a place for the residents to reach out to those they had loved and lost. As part of this sermon, our reverend brought his own "spirit phone" to the altar, and invited us to make our own phone calls to those who are no longer physically in our lives.
On January 3, 2002, I lost my Papaw to complications from pneumonia at the age of 82. On May 4, 2016, I lost my Mom to cancer at the age of 55. And on September 3, 2016, I lost my grandmother, "Mugger," at the age of 93. These three were the ones who raised me, and despite the usual familial chaos and dysfunction, we shared so very much love. In the wake of their absence, I've spent entirely too much time feeling like an orphan, and missing those obligatory weekend phone calls and road trips.
This blog is my own personal "spirit phone" -- my way to send messages across the veil to those who have gone ahead of me. It's fitting, because so much of my social media presence was cultivated with my family in mind, especially my mom -- posting pictures of the kids and snippets from my life to help keep her in the loop of what was going on with me. Now, I'll do the same after death -- share thoughts, feelings, musings, and observations with some of the people I miss talking to the most in the world.
I love you, Mom, and Mugger, and Papaw. Pass the phone around from time to time, and I'll pretend I'm at college, and you're all in the kitchen of the old farmhouse, and I'm letting you know what crazy adventure happened this week.