Pen Pals: a reunion
I had lunch with an old friend last week. Ann and I go WAY back to when we were little girls of maybe eight or ten. My family’s former pastor and his wife had moved to the Norman, Arkansas area, and were involved with a mission there.
Rev. Ellis Turner and his wife, Viola, helped set up a pen pal program, matching the kids in our little country church in Kansas with kids involved in their church and the mission in Norman. Ann and I were matched and we quickly became fast friends exchanging long letters and class photos. My sister, Vicky, was matched with Ann’s sister Faye, and they were pen pals for many years too. As children, we got to meet Ann and Faye and their family several times when we traveled to Arkansas to visit the Turners and help at the mission. I remember how sweet Ann’s parents were and how much Rev. and Mrs. Turner admired them.
Meeting each other sealed our friendship, and Ann and I continued to write until we were both young married women. Our children came along and we eventually lost touch, but I thought of Ann often over the years and wondered how she was doing.
In 2003, Vicky surprised their family with a visit to Ann and Faye’s parents’ house when she was visiting Arkansas. Ann happened to be at her parents’ house and they all had a good visit and even called Faye so they could talk. (Ann and Faye married brothers so they still have the same last name!)
Then a few years ago, Vicky found Faye, and then Ann, on Facebook and we all joyfully reconnected. We had large families in common, and we discovered that like my family, who lost my sister in a car accident, Ann and Faye had lost their brother, Tommy, the same way.
Fast forward to last week when Ken and I were driving through Arkansas on our way home to Missouri from a visit with our son and his family in Texas. Ken always likes to take the scenic backroads and it wasn’t long before I realized the scenery was looking very familiar. We were on the Talimena Scenic Byway winding through the Ouachita National Forest. Suddenly it was as if I was a little girl again, riding through that pretty part of the country on my way to see Ann!
And I was! I knew Ann had moved away from Norman when she married, but I wondered if maybe her new town was on our route. I looked it up and discovered it was only a little off the beaten path. I messaged her and we arranged to meet with her and her husband at a favorite restaurant of theirs, Jamie’s.
When we got out of our cars, it was as if we were little girls again! Never mind the pandemic, we simply had to share a quick hug! It was so wonderful to spend time with my childhood long-distance friend, the one I’d shared so many secrets with growing up, through our letters. I’d worried a little bit that we wouldn’t have anything to talk about after almost half a century being out of touch! But it was as if no time had passed. Well, except that this time, instead of talking about boyfriends and school, we were comparing notes about our grandchildren!
Ken and Ann’s husband, Everett, teased us that we might never stop talking, but the two of them had a good visit too. We’ve both had long, happy marriages and we’re all still walking close with the Lord.
There’s a lot of truth to the old saying: Make new friends, but keep the old… One is silver and the other gold. That is certainly true of my friendship with Ann. It is gold! I’m so glad the Lord gave us another chance to meet face to face. What a blessing.
Have you ever had a pen pal? Have you kept in touch? I’d love to hear your story in the comments below!
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Love this. ❤️
Thanks, Marti.
Love this story, Deb. God is so faithful!
Indeed, He is!
Love this story! I don’t have a pen pal but I have several friends whom I made as a little girl and haven’t seen for a long time. Maybe I’ll meet them again someday.
It’s more of a blessing than I even imagined, Anna! I hope you will meet your childhood friends again. But if not on this side of heaven, then I pray they know Him.
What a precious relationship with your pen pal! Yes, I had a few pen pals when I was younger, but I haven’t kept up with any. However, I have lived in different locations during my long life and do keep up with many of the friends and most of the family members who are scattered around the United States. Some, whose addresses I had lost, I rediscovered on Facebook and that was really nice because most post pictures as well as text. Keeping up with old friends is a gift from God!
That’s one of my favorite things about Facebook! It certainly has its flaws, but it has been wonderful for keeping up with long-lost cousins and friends and family!♥️
What a joy to reconnect after so many years, Deb!Growing up, I lived in California and my cousins lived in Oregon. I have three cousins, all girls, and even though the youngest was closest to me in age, I shared a bond with the middle girl. We wrote letters for years. She even got to spend a week with me one summer. I can remember sharing dating heartaches and dreams in the those letters. When the time came for me to marry, cousin Sharon, was one of three maids of honor standing next to me. Over the years, the letters stopped, but we’ve seen each other from time to time, though it’s more difficult now that half a country separate us. We share so many treasured memories, though.
Those are bonds that are hard to break, Karen. That’s so neat that Sharon was one of your maids of honor.
I have had several penpals and i still do! Im in my late 50s . We connect on Facebook now. My Mom had a penpal as a child and she loved mail. She made a point of writing letters to many people over the yrs. She passed that on to me. She wrote to her penpal in Australia for many yrs until i was a teenager. I joined a Christian penpal club when I was teenager and got to know the couple who ran that the penpal club from Wales. A dear couple who found joy in connecting new friends from around the world. I still write to the lady, her husband has past. I met many friends this way. I wrote to a young man in Ghana who eventually married and named their first child after me! They moved to England for University and I lost track of them. I wrote to a girl in Greece for yrs who was trying to learn English. Several English girls, and one from Australia. The girl from Australia got married and her husband wouldnt let her write. She sent a sad letter telling me she couldnt write me. Several years later I joined an online crafting community and suddenly discovered she was in the group too! We have been great friends online ever since. We sometimes Skype, but we still write a letter to each other at Christmas!
Two of my penpals live in California and 10 yrs ago i got to meet them both when we travelled from our home in Saskatchewan, Canada to Disneyland. During the trip we also stayed overnight in our camper, with another family in Salt Lake City that I originally met as a part of the online crafting community. It was a great reunion with all of them!
Now i belong to a postcrossing group that shares postcard around the world 🌎. It’s lots of fun and i recommend it to anyone interested. I have mail that makes me smile every few days!
It’s wonderful hearing about your penpal reunion. Im glad you shared it and let me share mine. I have dear friends around the world because of penpalling and connections online now.
Benita
Wow, Benita! You could write an entire book on penpalling! What amazing adventures you’ve had via penpals! I’ve never been able to travel abroad but it looks like you’ve found an alternate way to do that! Maybe I should investigate! 😊 It’s pretty neat that you’ve had a baby named after you too! Not many people can say that! Thanks so much for taking the time to share!
A post so close to my heart. I had several pen pals growing up.
I was matched with one of mine in a Bicentennial swap in Teen magazine in 1976. She lived in TN and I in AL. We eventually met, have visited each other several times, attended each other’s weddings and still keep up on Facebook 40+ years later!
I got another one from a Bay City Roller fan club booklet when I was 15. We still keep in touch through Facebook and her mom (who is not on FB) still exchanges letters with me often. I even call her Mom! I attended her graduation and she attended my wedding.
I always loved writing letters as a young girl! 💗💗
That is SO cool, Melissa! I wonder if Teen Magazine would be interested in your story!? It’s pretty amazing that your simple penpal exchange turned into such an amazing friendship!
What a sweet pen pal reunion! Loved this post and these pictures. It’s such a good reminder that taking the time to reach out to childhood friends — even if just for a lunch when driving through their part of the country — is good for the soul.
So true, Becky. Thanks to writers conferences and Facebook, we all have people all across the nation (and world!) that feel like friends. Even though it’s a little nerve-wracking to think about imposing on someone’s day when you’re not sure they remember your friendship as fondly as you do, chances are, they DO. And what a joy a reunion can be!
This is so sweet and awesome!
Thanks, Abigail. It really was! ♥️
I had two pen pals growing up – both through programs at my elementary school. I lost touch with one but I’m still in touch – via snail mail – with the other. I’d love to find another pen pal or two but have been unsure how to go about it. Your story is great as are the others posted in the comments!
It’s a really awesome program for elementary age kids! Learning how to write a proper letter (or email), learning how to get to know a new person, etc. It’s so nice that you’ve kept in touch with one of your pen pals, Ellie. Thanks for sharing!
What a wonderful post, Deb! I love that you and Ann were able to meet up again recently – – such a blessing.
When I was 10 years old, I had a pen pal in Louisiana. Three years later, when I traveled from Georgia to Colorado with my parents, my Daddy arranged to come home through Louisiana, and I was able to meet my pen pal in person–such a treat! We kept in touch until we were in our early 20s, but lost touch due to busy schedules (marriage, families).
Thanks to Facebook, we’ve reconnected and I am thrilled! Maybe someday we’ll be able to meet again in person, just as you did with Ann! 🙂
Awww, I love your story, Patti Jo. Very similar to mine. I hope you do get to meet in person again!
Hi Deborah,
My pen pal lives in Krakow, surely one of the most beautiful cities in the world. . We started writing because her great uncle lived in our valley, had married an English high school teacher after fighting with the Allies in WWII. When my pen pal came to visit her great uncle , our friendship became stronger. One problem… A language teacher, her English is perfect… My Polish is almost non existent, but we’ve shared wonderful evenings in Krakow with her and many of her friends.
No subjects off limits….