When I was in elementary school I had a pen pal from Finland. I can’t remember how the school hooked the two of us up, but we continued to write letters for months after the initial assignment was over.
I loved to receive those letters. My pen pal would draw all sorts of pictures representing the history of his homeland and I would send back all sorts of interesting stickers and images of the U.S. Since we were young we wrote our letters on those enormous pieces of long lined white paper and I remember unfolding each letter bit by bit until I could spread it out on the table in front of me.
I kept those letters locked in a tiny chest in my house for years. I wish I still had one. I would love to track down my pen pal and find out what became of him.
Isn’t it funny to think that a tiny, inexpensive stamp sent those letters half way around the world and brought me so much joy as a child.
I don’t know what got me thinking about that today, but I can’t get the image of those letters out of my head. It is such a happy memory.
Do you remember his name? Perhaps he's on Facebook!
Unfortunately I don't! I kept those letters forever, but I searched all the places I could think of and I can't find them anywhere.
I had a penpal from NY in 2nd grade, something the school arranged and I kept her letters. 15 years later, I sent her a letter at the same address not expecting anything, but she wrote back! It was cool to compare her adult letter with her kid letter, she decorated both with stars and doodles all around the edges. We didn't continue writing but it was cool to follow up.
Back in brownies(not sure if that is just in Canada) we were matched with a brownie from another country and I chose Scotland. We were matched at the age of 10 and have continued to write letters ever since. Last year we celebrated 35 years of friendship and we have never met but I consider my penpal Nora Ann to be a great friend. Who would have thought we would still be writing this many years later.
Brandi