When Grief Needs a Voice, Californians Turn to ‘Wind Phones’
By Sam Michael
July 6, 2026
In quiet corners of California — from windswept beaches in San Francisco to the stark beauty of the Joshua Tree desert — people are stepping into small, disconnected phone booths to speak to those they’ve lost.
These are wind phones, a simple yet profoundly moving concept that gives the grieving a private, symbolic space to say the words left unsaid. As more installations appear across the state, Californians are increasingly turning to them as a powerful tool for healing.
What Is a Wind Phone?
A wind phone is exactly what it sounds like: an old rotary (or sometimes push-button) telephone placed inside a small booth or shelter in a peaceful outdoor setting. The phone is deliberately disconnected from any network.
Visitors pick up the receiver and speak freely — sharing memories, expressing love, asking questions, or simply saying goodbye. The idea is that the wind carries their words to their loved ones.
The concept originated in Japan in 2010, when garden designer Itaru Sasaki installed a disconnected phone in his garden after the devastating 2011 tsunami and earthquake. He named it kaze no denwa — “wind phone.” What began as one man’s personal act of mourning has since inspired hundreds of similar installations worldwide.
Wind Phones Take Root in California
California now hosts several wind phones, each created with deep personal meaning:
- Sunset Dunes Park, San Francisco: A sky-blue booth near the ocean, installed in 2025 by Bay Area artists Jamae Tasker and Sarah McCarthy Grimm, both touched by grief. Visitors look out at the Pacific while speaking into the wind.
- Joshua Tree: A desert installation built by Colin Campbell and Gail Lerner in memory of their children, Ruby and Hart, who were killed in a car crash. The stark, quiet landscape offers a powerful backdrop for raw emotion.
- Other locations include spots in Santa Cruz and the Garden of Hope at City of Hope in Duarte.
These are not commercial attractions. Most were built by grieving families or small groups of volunteers who wanted to create spaces where others could find comfort.
Why Wind Phones Resonate So Deeply
Grief often feels isolating. Many people struggle to talk about their loss with friends or family, worried about burdening others or not knowing how to express the depth of their pain.
Wind phones offer something rare: permission to speak without interruption or judgment.
Psychologists and grief counselors note that continuing bonds with deceased loved ones — talking to them, remembering them out loud — can be an important part of healthy grieving. The wind phone provides a physical, intentional ritual for that connection.
“It gives people a voice when words feel stuck,” one visitor to the San Francisco wind phone shared. “You can say the hard things, the loving things, the angry things — and the wind just takes it all.”
A Growing Movement of Hope
What started as a handful of personal memorials has grown into a quiet global network. Websites like mywindphone.com now map hundreds of wind phones across the United States and beyond. New ones continue to appear as more people discover the concept and feel moved to create their own.
In California, the installations reflect the state’s diverse landscapes — from coastal bluffs to high desert — and its equally diverse experiences of loss. Whether mourning a parent, child, partner, or friend, visitors find a shared sense of humanity in these simple booths.
The phones don’t promise answers or miracles. Instead, they offer something perhaps more valuable: space. Space to feel, to remember, and to let emotions move through you like the wind itself.
Finding Comfort on the Wind
As awareness spreads, more Californians are seeking out these wind phones — sometimes traveling hours for a few quiet minutes with the receiver in hand.
In a world that often rushes past grief, these humble installations remind us that healing doesn’t always require words from others. Sometimes, it’s enough to speak into the wind and know that your love travels with it.
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