Words on the Wind

Thanks to Oak Island resident Wendy Morris, a wind phone at May Moore Park offers a place for grievers to send messages to loved ones who have passed away.

Wendy Morris of Oak Island had a vision after her husband, Michael Morris, passed away January 4, 2023, at age 62. She saw Michael’s hand reach down to his best friend, Lon E. “Bert” Maggart, and pull him to heaven. Morris consulted artist Joanna Frye of Wilmington, who drew a rendition of the image.

“I was hesitant at first but honored to be part of such a meaningful piece of work,” Frye says. “Anything that can help us stay connected to our loved ones and process our grief is wonderful.”

The picture Frye drew touched Morris’s heart, so she made copies and distributed them to friends as a symbol of friendship and love.

“Michael was my life,” Morris says. “My mission is to talk about grief. Nobody talks about grief.”

The door opened in September 2024 for her to fulfill her mission when a friend from Massachusetts told her about the concept of a wind phone and sent her a picture of one.

A wind phone is not connected to any network, wires or cables.

Its purpose is for people to call a loved one who has passed on, leave a message or just talk, because the wind will carry the message to the departed. Itaru Sasaki of Japan created the original wind phone in 2010 to have contact to his cousin, who died of cancer.

Amy Dawson, who grieved the loss of her daughter, created mywindphone.com when she heard of the phenomenon. She documents the number of wind phones around the world and updates the numbers. As of August 19, 2025, the United States had 315, and the rest of the world, 136.

“I was fascinated by it,” Morris says.

A co-founder and member of Tree Peace OKI, Morris shared with other members her wish to install a wind phone. She hoped it would be in her front yard, but people convinced her to consider a different location. She contacted the Oak Island Recreation Department and presented her idea to its members. They recommended May Moore Park and asked for specific information, such as how she was going to display the phone.

When dog groomer and woodworker enthusiast Albert Hardison came to groom Addie, Morris’s 7-year-old dachshund, she shared her wind phone idea and asked him if he would build a structure for the phone. She knew his talent from other items he had made for her.

“I thought [the wind phone] is a really good idea, plus I enjoy working with wood,” Hardison says. He went home, inspected the supply of wood he had handy and constructed a model for the phone from treated lumber and cedar. He sent a picture of it to Morris with the note saying she didn’t have to accept it. “Use it if you want,” he wrote.

“I approved of it,” Morris says. In the meantime, she received a call saying the Recreation Department voted unanimously to accept the wind phone, but she had to present her idea to the Oak Island Town Council.

Hardison brought the structure he built to Morris’s home, and the pair attached the old phone that Morris had retrieved from her mother’s house in Greensboro. She printed a welcome message and a picture of the hands. She then prepared a PowerPoint presentation and asked Hardison to go with her to the town council meeting. Not all council members favored her idea, and a vote was set for the next meeting.

Morris recalls Councilman Bob Ciullo coming to her defense at that meeting.

“He said he lost his son to suicide, and people need a quiet reflection spot,” she recalls. “That park is the perfect spot.”

Ciullo confirms those words. “Reflection is so important in life,” he says. “It’s just to slow down and reflect on all the blessings we do have and how to turn a terrible, terrible loss into something positive.”

Ciullo has used the phone and says, “It’s the perfect place for it because it’s off the beaten trail.”

The town council required conditions for the wind phone, and Morris signed an agreement to maintain the display and fix any repairs.

Michael Morris was a beloved English as a Second Language teacher in Brunswick County Schools from 2016 to 2023, and fellow teacher Elsa Armijos wrote a 10-page eulogy titled “The King of Kabut.” It tells of Morris’ pleasant disposition, his dedication to reading stories to his students and the game of “Kabut” that he developed so children could learn to use the computer.

“I wrote it because I wanted to honor Mr. Morris’ legacy,” Armijos says. “It represents the type of teacher who is caring and gives everything to his students. He really, truly loved to teach and see the students be successful. His passion for teaching English as a Second Language was truly an asset to our schools.”

Morris contacted her friend Katie Brobst to illustrate the eulogy and had it published. She plans to have all proceeds go to scholarships for students whose first language is not English.

Lincoln Elementary School in Leland instituted a Michael Morris Day every January 4, the anniversary of his death, in the teacher’s honor.

“People with different backgrounds can come together and make anything happen,” Hardison says. “I’m a dog groomer, and Wendy is a client of mine. She had an idea, and we put it together.”

Ciullo says rather than a village to get a project completed, “In this case, it took one person. It’s an amazing success story. Wendy persevered. I was able to help her out in the votes and make it happen. I was able to share my story.”

Morris and Hardison installed the wind phone on December 14, 2024.

“The wind phone is there to give peace,” Morris says. “I want it to lift people’s hearts and be a relief. People are finding their way there. I don’t want Michael to be forgotten.”

It was the first wind phone installed in Brunswick County. Jeanine and Jimmy Blumenfeld of Ocean Isle Beach installed the second one in February 2025 at the Sunset Beach Fishing Pier in honor of their son Tyler, who passed away on September 20, 2021.

Find the Oak Island Wind Phone:
May Moore Park
820 Elizabeth Drive, Oak Island

For more information, visit mywindphone.com
If you’re grieving a loved one, these two websites can help compassionatefriends.org and grief.com.