THE WIND PHONE

Reluctantly Practicing the Art of the Obituary

Writing about three family members’ lives in short succession changed me

christina hughes babb
The Wind Phone
Published in
7 min readOct 10, 2024

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artistic rendition of woman’s profile, pensive expression
Deposit photos

Years ago, I decided to write more obituaries.

So springtime 2023, sitting cross-legged on my sofa, I grinned and penned one for an eccentric neighborhood publican whose patrons used words like “scrappy,” “untamed,” and “mercurial” to describe him.

My phone buzzed. Dad Cell.

“Hey, Dad!”

“Your mom,” he choked. “Chris, she died.”

Grandma, me, and Mom. Photo is the author’s property

As a city reporter, I wrote about locally notable deaths — former police chief, famous musicians, fabled Free Advice Guy.

My duties did not necessarily include covering unsensational departures. But I operated within a small world. I often knew the deceased or their loved ones.

I wrote obituaries as the news cycle allowed because so many lives in retrospect are fascinating. Also, I supposed they might soothe, in some slight way, the bereft.

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christina hughes babb
The Wind Phone

Based on Actual Events: Award-winning journalist and essayist.