Can't make it to the gravesite? Call the dead from home.

[The Straight Story]

Making a Connection With the Dead

"Phone Angel" father Bröther

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Many in the grips of grief will find it hard to face a visit to the grave of a loved one, while some may be unable to make the journey. Now, help is at hand thanks to the slightly macabre "Phone Angel."



A German inventor has come up with a novel way for relatives coping with the grief of losing a loved one to convey their feelings to the departed. The "Phone Angel," a long-life battery powered cell phone device, allows those in mourning to have contact with the deceased when personal pain, distance or disability prevents them from attending the final resting place.



Not to be confused with a seance or ouija board, the Phone Angel doesn't promise to put you in touch with the spirit world but intends to provide comfort for those coming to terms with their loss by opening the airwaves. And, although it may seem like a bizarre and slightly macabre idea, Jürgen Bröther from Osnabrück has already sold three of the devices at €1,500 ($1,953) a piece.



"People who are ill, have no time or live too far away to visit the deceased in their grave can now call," said Bröther in an interview with the Associated Press. The inventor added that the thought came to him when his mother showed an unwillingness to attend a relative's grave but would have liked to keep in touch with the person laid to rest there.

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