Telephone to the hereafter is this Kamloops woman's gift to people mourning a loss

Last week, Kirsty Sykes of Kamloops, B.C., put up a phone bought from a local thrift store in a remote corner of the Peterson Creek Nature Park. She lost her grandmother and friends over the past five years, and she hopes the Telephone of Infinity can help people express their feelings about death.

Named Telephone of Infinity, the unconnected device can be a tool for expressing emotions, says its creator

Winston Szeto CBC News Posted: Jan 23, 2021 2:00 PM EST | Last Updated: January 24, 2021

Telephone of Infinity is an unconnected phone installed in a remote corner of Peterson Creek Nature Park south of downtown Kamloops, B.C. Its creator Kirsty Sykes says it's a tool to guide people through grief over their deceased loved ones. (Jenifer Norwell/CBC)

Kirsty Sykes lost her best friend to afentanyl overdose five years ago and knows what it's like to bottle up grief aboutloved ones lost.

She believes other people share that feeling sothe Kamloops, B.C., landscaper came up with a creative idea.Sykesturned an old, yellow phone she bought from a local thrift store intoa conduit to the next world, tucked away in the trees in a local park.

"We are at the Telephone of Infinity," Sykes told CBC story producer Jenifer Norwell on a hiking trail in Peterson Creek Nature Park south of downtown in the southern Interior city.

"This phone is here to help express feelings and energy, and to remind you that although your loved one has passed, they are always here to listen," reads the phone's introductory note attached to a plywood board affixed to a tree.

"Dedicated to the memory of Tyler Robinson," the final line of the note says about Sykes's best friend and ex-boyfriend, who died in January 2016.

Sykes's creation was inspired by U.S. travel journalist Corey Dembeck, who installed his rotary Telephone of the Wind in November at Priest Point Park inOlympia, Wash.,after his grandfather, parents and his friend's daughter died.

"I just started crying, like tears just came to my eyes right away," Sykes said.

"A lot of people, even if they know they can make connections with someone who has passed away, just might need a physical, real item that could be a gate towards doing that," she said.

Kirsty Sykes at the Telephone of Infinity. She says it can be helpful to use a physical device to speak feelings aloud. (Jenifer Norwell/CBC)

Sykes lost her grandmother to cancer five years ago, and over the years many of her friends passed away due to opioid overdose.

Sykes hasn't used the Telephone of Infinity herself, but says speaking on the phone while imagining a loved one on the other side can be a miraculous, emotional experience.

"You could write [your feelings] in a journal, but I just think sitting and speaking out loud is important as well," she said. "It's a natural gift that we have to use communication that way."

Tap the link below to hear Kirsty Sykes's conversation with Jenifer Norwell on Daybreak Kamloops:

With files from Jenifer Norwell and Daybreak Kamloops

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Telephone to the hereafter is this Kamloops woman's gift to people mourning a loss

Named Telephone of Infinity, the unconnected device can be a tool for expressing emotions, says its creator

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