Through a different kind of talking therapy, the burden of grief is lifted

Dembeck made Telephone of the Wind in 2020. — Photos: LUKE JOHNSON/The Seattle Times/TNS

BRITTANY Bacinski prepared to connect with her first love, putting into words what she should have told him years ago. She had travelled more than 3,218km from her home in Michigan to speak with him in an Olympia park.

The one-sided conversation would be through a vintage rotary phone. She picked up the receiver, the dense weight matching the heaviness she felt. She stuck her finger into the clear holes, dialled a number and began talking.