How the Grand Rapids ‘Wind Phone’ Helps People Process Loss

Sometimes, you just need someone to talk to. Most of us can just whip our phones out of our pockets and call a friend or family member, but that isn't always an option. That person you want to call may not be available, or, more heartbreakingly, may not even be around anymore.

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But there is still a way to talk to them, thanks to a piece of technology that has also become a part of the past. Many payphones and rotary phones are no longer in service, but people have converted them into Wind Phones so that those who are grieving can speak with those who have passed. 

What Is A Wind Phone?

The idea of a Wind Phone comes from Japan, where Itaru Sasaki purchased a phone booth and set it up in his garden to connect with his cousin, who had passed from cancer. He installed an "obsolete rotary phone not connected to wires or any earthly systems."

After the 2011 earthquake in Japan, Sasaki moved his Wind Phone booth to a hill overlooking the ocean to allow grieving members of the community to "call" their missing or deceased loved ones. This concept has since spread worldwide, with MyWindPhone.com now mapping 562 public Wind Phones across the United States.

The Grand Rapids Wind Phone

Amy Dawson found solace in the Wind Phone after she lost her daughter in 2020. After learning about the Wind Phone in Japan, she learned there were some in the US and made it her mission to catalogue them in one place.

Michigan has over 23 Wind Phones, including one here in Grand Rapids at Oak Grove Cemetery. At the cemetery, you are invited to sit on a black bench, dial your loved one's phone number, and speak into a solemn black rotary phone. The line is not connected, but is meant to make you feel connected to that person.

As the sign says, the wind will take your words to where they need to be.

The phone is located next to a plot of land dedicated to all the unclaimed neighbors around Grand Rapids.

READ MORE: One of Michigan’s Last Working Payphones Is on Mackinac Island

West Michigan has Wind Phones in Muskegon, Kent City, and Sidney as well. Whether you need it now or later, the Wind Phone will be there for you.