Sometimes we lose people unexpectedly and without the opportunity to say everything we might want to say. It's sad, and can leave deep grief and regret. This is where “wind phones” come in. 

At its simplest, a wind phone is a rotary or push-button phone located in a secluded spot in nature, usually within a booth-type structure and often next to a chair or bench. The phone line is disconnected, of course.

People use the wind phone to “call” and have a one-way conversation with deceased loved ones. Here they can say the things left unsaid. Wind phones offer a setting for the person to tell the story of their grief, to reminiscence and to continue to connect to the person who is gone. For many, it is a deeply moving, life-affirming experience. The words may be spoken, but only heard and swept away by the wind. 

About 200 wind phones are scattered throughout the United States, with many more around the world. Wind phones are open to the public, free of charge and usually found in parks, along walking trails and on church grounds. Typically, they are built by those who want to honor a lost loved one.

The wind phone began in Japan in 2010, when Itaru Sasaki, a garden designer, built a phone booth in his yard so he could “talk” with a deceased relative. Months later, the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami hit and, in a matter of minutes, more than 20,000 people died.

Sasaki opened the phone booth to his neighbors, who urgently needed a place to express their grief. Word spread, and soon people came on pilgrimage from around Japan to speak through the “phone of the wind” to those they loved.

Since then, wind phones have spread throughout the world.

And while it may not exactly take the place of actually saying things directly to someone, a wind phone does offer a second chance and can give some closure to those grieving. And that can be a very positive thing.