by Jen Pretty, Dundas County Hospice
It’s called a wind phone. Visitors pick up the receiver and can have a conversation with a lost loved one. The phone itself isn’t connected to anything, but the connection it provides can be absolutely priceless. Originally created in Japan by Itaru Sasaki while grieving his cousin who died of cancer, the wind phone idea took off after Itaru Sasaki opened his wind phone up to the public following the 2011 earthquake that resulted in 30-foot waves, which obliterated the coast of Japan, destroying entire towns and taking thousands of lives.
At Dundas County Hospice, we know hospice is not about dying, it’s about improving the quality of life. That doesn’t end with death. We support many residents of North and South Dundas through our grief and bereavement programs. The addition of the wind phone is just another step towards our purpose of helping our community.
Not only is this wind phone for our community, but our community made it a reality. It was a generous donation by Dwayne Holmes that funded the entire project in memory of his late wife, Phyllis, and it was the design work of Bob Forward along with his assistant Bob Sisson who spent countless hours building the structure. Without them, the wind phone construction would not have been possible.
As Itaru Sasaki did, we offer the use of our wind phone to anyone who has felt loss or grief, and we hope solace is found among the flowers and peace of the hospice gardens
as words of love are carried on the wind.
