The first wind phone was created in Japan by Itaru Sasaki after losing his cousin to cancer in 2010. He installed a disconnected rotary phone in his garden as a way to connect with his cousin after their death.

In 2011, after a tsunami hit the coast of Japan, destroying cities and leaving hundreds of people missing, Sasaki then relocated the phone booth on a hill overlooking the ocean to give others a way to connect with their lost loved ones.

And now in 2025, one mother in Geneva, Ill., wants to bring a wind phone to the far western suburb.

Reset learns more about this effort and navigating grief. We’ll hear from Elaine Haughan, who lost her son James in 2021; Liam Jackowiec, best friend of James Haughan; and Neal Parker, with the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, which invites visitors to use the wind phone they have available by its butterfly garden.

For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

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