Leaving Joshua Tree and heading to Sequoia National Park, I stopped in the town of Joshua Tree at a wind phone. It’s a place where you can call a loved one and let the wind carry your words to them. I went there to talk to my mom. This wind phone was created by Gail and Colin Campbell whose children, Ruby and Hart, were killed by a drunk driver. They created it to talk to their children and then shared it, so others can also speak to lost loved ones.
I followed the coordinates 34°07’22.4″N 116°15’58.8″W and parked in the small lot by the sign. As I followed the path to the wind phone, I began crying. I could already tell this was a special place. I got to the phone, sat down, and dialed my childhood phone number, 646-3406. I felt it, I could feel my mom on the other side. I talked to her. I told her I was so sorry that I didn’t realize earlier what was wrong with her. I told her that I missed her every single day. I told her that I love her so much. And I told her goodbye.
My mom was an amazing woman. She was very wise and always seemed to know exactly what to say and what to do. She usually only gave advice when asked, but if she gave unsolicited advice, you’d do best to listen! That meant it was important and probably right! She loved completely and wholeheartedly and never failed to tell me she loved me. She had dementia and probably Alzheimer’s, we just ran out of time for an official diagnosis. Even in the end, when I could tell she didn’t remember my name, I would walk into her room and she would say, “There’s my sweet girl.” I never got to say goodbye to my strong, wise, courageous, and exceptionally intelligent mom, only the mom who didn’t always remember me. But at the wind phone, I was talking to my mom who was whole and complete. It was a very magical place. I don’t know how else to describe it. You can feel the love that created this space and I truly believe that love carries into the wind with our words to reach those we’ve lost.
Heading into Sequoia later that day, I realized doing these two things back-to-back was perfect. I got my tree hugger status from mom and she would have loved this place as much as me. When I reached my campground for the next two nights, I looked around and just knew that she was watching, also in awe of the majesty God created. I wish we could have hugged one of those giant trees together.
Finding The Good 