A man’s touching tribute to his late father, spoken through a “wind phone” on Pinehurst Resort’s No. 2 golf course, has made quite an impression on a number of young TikTokers.
The man, who appears to be quite elderly himself, identifies himself as George in the TikTok, and quips that his father may not even have heard of golf.
Elderly man delivers tribute to late father through wind phone at US Open
“Dad, this is your son, George,” begins the man. He appears to be speaking into a wind phone.
“Pinehurst, North Carolina,” George continues. “Watching the US Open. That’s golf, something you may never have heard of. Certainly not played.”
He then reveals that he’s watching the US Open as the guest of his son – his father’s grandson. “And just wishing you, wherever you are, a happy day. We love you. Bye.”
The first wind phone was an unconnected telephone booth in Japan. Visitors could use it to hold one-way conversations with deceased loved ones. It was the brainchild of garden designer Itaru Sasaki, who built it in 2010. The purpose was to help him cope with the death of his cousin. It became available for public use a year later, after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, which killed more than 15,000 people.
TikTokers left ‘bawling’ by emotional video
Pinehurst Resort, which is hosting the US Open this year, posted the video to its TikTok channel on Sunday, June 16.
In its first day online, it has received more than half a million likes, 22K bookmarks and nearly 34K shares. TikTok users have been highlighting parts of it and, it seems, shedding a tear or three.
“To hear someone his age say ‘Dad’”, writes one, adding three broken heart emojis. Another commented that the man seemed to walk away “as if he was expecting the phone to ring”.
“I really do cry every time I open this app”, writes another. Meanwhile, a fourth simply commented, “No I’m bawling”.
There are other wind phone replicas around the US and Canada
The original wind phone is in Japan, in Ōtsuchi, Iwate Prefecture. But several replicas exist in different parts of the world.
Artist Jordan Stern constructed one in Oakland, California in 2017. His purpose was to commemorate those who died in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire. His friend was among the casualties.
There’s a disconnected phone in Marshall, North Carolina too. Local news outlet Mountain Xpress reported in 2020 that it “facilitates spiritual connections”.
“Visitors can pick up the handset, ‘call’ their lost loved ones and release whatever words they wish to communicate into the wind.”
Finally, according to CBC News, there’s a wind phone replica in Port Moody’s Pioneer Memorial Park, in British Columbia, Canada. The Crossroads Hospice Society put it there.
“The first time I picked up the phone to talk to my brother […] was very uncomfortable and awkward,” CBC quotes one woman as saying. Her late brother didn’t have a burial. He doesn’t have a plaque. She recalls not really having anywhere to talk to him.
“But handing the phone to my daughter, and just seeing her smile and saying, ‘Hi, Uncle Henry,’ and, you know, connecting with him and getting to keep his memory alive… I honestly was in tears.”
