Michele Rubin of Murrysville still talks to her son every day, though he died in April 2017.

Paul E. Lucas was 21 when he died of a fentanyl-laced drug overdose April 13, 2017, after what his family explained in his obituary was “a long battle with substance addiction disorder.”

Rubin, a coordinator of the Westmoreland Chapter of the Grief Recovery After a Substance Passing support group, has asked Irwin officials for permission to install what is called a Wind Phone at Irwin Park, where those in grief can “talk” to their loved one who has died.

A rotary phone that is not connected to a phone line, it would give those who are grieving over the loss of a loved one — regardless of the reason — a chance to express themselves on the phone, Rubin told Irwin officials last week.

“The grief has nowhere to go.” With the Wind Phone, “you can say the things that are in your heart,” Rubin said.

Those using the Wind Phone trust that the wind will carry the messages to the person they have loved, according to literature from My Wind Phone.

Jennifer Macioce of Claridge, a licensed clinical social worker and a co-facilitator of the support group, said she envisions an old-style phone booth that would have a rotary phone. Ideally, the phone booth would be placed near trees not far from a stream that runs along the edge of the park, Macioce said. They also want to install a phone that is deaf-friendly, Macioce said.

Some of the feedback from people who have used a Wind Phone “have said it’s been better than therapy or group therapy, because it gives them closure,” said Macioce, whose first husband died of a drug overdose 24 years ago.

The borough will consider the request, said Rick Burdelski, council president. Burdelski said the borough needs more information about the project, including what it would look like and where the GRASP group wants to place it. That discussion likely will occur at borough council’s next workshop meeting on Nov. 3.

The support group would take care of the phone, Rubin said. It operates through Sage’s Army in Irwin, a community-based recovery organization supporting individuals and families through support services, support groups and meetings, advocacy efforts and education.

Macioce said they are concerned that having a Wind Phone in the park could make it vulnerable to vandalism.

The Wind Phone concept was started in Japan in 2010 by a man who placed it in his garden after losing his cousin, according to My Wind Phone. It was a place of solace for many who lost loved ones in the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, killing an estimated 18,500.

There is a Wind Phone in Millvale as well as ones in Confluence and Johnstown, according to the organization’s website, which lists 346 wind phones in the nation. None is in Westmoreland County.

‘Lovely idea’

“I think this is a lovely idea to put it in the park. Nature is healing. To be in the presence of nature, is a very positive thing for healing,” said Maureen Ceidro, bereavement counselor Independence Health System’s hospice program.

One of the challenges in those who are grieving is maintaining a sense of connection with their loved one, said Ceidro, who has been a bereavement counselor at the health system for 18 years.

Some people will talk to a photo of the loved one they are missing, as a way of keeping that connection alive. It’s normal and comforting to many to have that conversation, said Ceidro, who was the pastoral care director at the former Jeannette District Memorial Hospital. said.

Having that Wind Phone “may be very appealing to people who want to maintain that connection” to the person they have lost, Ceidro said.

“It’s a very therapeutic tool for expressing grief … to say what is in your heart,” Ceidro said.

Carmen Capozzi founded Sage’s Army in the aftermath of the death of his son, Sage, who died of a heroin overdose in 2012. He said the resource would be beneficial for those dealing with grief.

“There are so many people dealing with grief in the world. It gives them a place to express their grief. Grief is love that has nowhere to go,” but it has a place with the Wind Phone, Capozzi said.

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