GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — At Oakgrove Cemetery in Grand Rapids, visitors can now speak aloud their messages to lost loved ones through a recently installed “wind phone,” a tool designed for individuals struggling through grief.
“It’s not connected to any particular religion or faith,” Sarah Sun, tattoo artist and local death care professional, said. “Anybody can use it.”
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Sun began her professional journey in “death care” — a perspective on health care that seeks to normalize the dying process and effects of grief on family members — after visiting the Oakgrove Cemetery and discovering that nearly 400 individuals buried there are unmarked and undesignated.
“They’ve gone on unclaimed, either because they’re unhoused or … they did not have the financial means to have a burial,” Sun said.
After learning more about Oakgrove from the city, Sun and other volunteers held two memorial events for the large number of unclaimed sites…