Phone in Rotary Park in La Salle provides an outlet for grief

An old phone put in Rotary Park in La Salle now serves as a place for people to grieve and process their emotions after losing a loved one.

The phone was an idea by Amber and Greg Engels who worked with the city to get the phone installed as of June 24. People can speak into the phone as if they are talking to someone they’ve lost.

Amber said she and her husband watch the CBS Sunday Morning show every weekend, and one day about six months ago they watched a feature that stuck with them. It was about a man in Washington that installed a phone in the middle of the woods and used it to “call” people he’s lost.

Eventually word spread and more people came to the park to use the phone. The phone isn’t actually connected to anything, and people can use it to say what they want and express emotions they may otherwise keep inside.

The phone became a powerful tool in helping people grieve and process their emotions after experiencing a loss. Because of the story and the losses they endured, Amber and Greg were inspired to install a phone for this purpose in Rotary Park in La Salle.

“If only one person uses this phone and finds comfort, it’ll be well worth it,” Amber said.

One of the reasons the couple installed the phone is because of losses they experienced in her husband’s immediate family. He lost his oldest brother in a motorcycle at 21 and his middle brother to cancer. Both his parents have passed, too.

Amber said she’s blessed to never have lost someone in her immediate family. All of her eight brothers and sisters, 18 nieces and nephews and two parents are still with her.

However, Amber knew how much her husband idolized his older brother and always regretted never being able to meet him. So, she used the phone to introduce herself and her daughter, who’s headed off to college this year.

“To use it, I would venture to say it does require some kind of courage,” Amber said. “It requires courage, it really truly does, to just pick up the phone.”

Amber also said there’s an aspect of healing the phone provides. She said there is something about expressing private thoughts and feelings that makes it easier to go on in life.

“[The phone is in] a private spot where you can cry, where you can scream if you want to and you can vent,” Amber said. “It sort of heals you … picking up that phone, it does something to you. I don’t know what it is.”

The phone is located in Rotary Park between the hiking trail and the dog park about 200 feet down the hill. It is open to anyone who wants to use it.