Believe it or not, I did have a life before blogging.
I used to write letters to dozens of penfriends.
Having penpals was not only a great creative outlet, but also a way to gain insight into life in other countries (before the internet turned us into a global village).
My First Penpal
My parents signed me up to a penpal organisation when I was 10, and my very first penpal was Debbie, from the USA. To my surprise, International Penfriends still exists – and interestingly it was born the same year that I was: 1967!
My penfriends came from all over the world, and even right here in Australia. It made my day whenever I found a big fat envelope (or lots of them!) waiting for me in my letter box. To think today’s kids will likely never know the pleasure of writing and receiving letters 🙁 . Email, texting, social media – it’s just not the same.
Whatever Happened to My Penpals?
Over the years, I lost touch with most of my penpals – but thanks to the wonders of Facebook have managed to re-connect with most of my favourites: Tracy in Adelaide, Debbie in the USA, Elaine in England, Rachel in Germany.
I met Elaine for the first time when I was in London last year
But let me tell you the story of one very special one: Catherine from New Zealand.
We started out as penpals when we were about 13 (gosh was that really 35 years ago?!) through a chain letter. (Does anybody else remember them? “Send a postcard to the first person on this list. Then copy the list and take their name off the top, and put yours at the bottom. In 6 weeks you should received lots of postcards from all over the world!”). Apparently I sent Cath a postcard and asked if she wanted to be my penpal. The rest, as they say, is history.
We’ve been through so much together – school, jobs, boyfriends. We married the same year, and had our first babies within two weeks of each other; our second babies both arrived in 1996. Sadly, Cath was widowed unexpectedly before her second child was born. She has had a third child, and re-married – hubster and I flew over for her wedding three years ago. We are both crazy cat ladies and love to potter in our gardens.
Catherine’s Wedding Day 2013
Today, for the first time, Catherine is coming to stay at my house – along with her husband and 3 kids. I think that I can confidently predict that I will be posting lots of pics and goss on social media over the coming days … and that it will help keep me out of mischief til Miss 19 gets back from her European holiday (yes, I’m missing her desperately)!
Were you penpalling mad like me? Are you still in touch with any of your penfriends?
How exciting that Catherine is coming to stay! I know you will have a ball!
My story was like yours. My first pen friend was in Japan when I was 13. I also was a member of international one friends, & at one stage had over 30!!! There was nothing quite like receiving a letter 🙂
Then there was the Internet ….. & message boards! Such an easy way to connect with people anywhere.
When I was younger I used to think that as I got older I’d have more time for letter writing. I now know that is never going to be the case! Life just gets busier.
These days I think blogging has replaced letter writing for me … the bonus is I actually make a little bit of money from my “hobby”!
I never had a pen pal and I wish I had. My closest thing was writing airmail letters to my BFF when she went to Germany and Columbia. I have a friend now that receives postcards from people around the world. She shares them on Facebook and they are really interesting!
It’s not too late Denise – as I mentioned, International Penfriends is still going strong!
I had many pen friends growing up and continued to write well into my 20s and 30s then it all faded away as hand writing letters was just too much and I no longer had the time to write as once did.I loved writing letters and I suppose I have simply swapped my letter writing for blog posts!!! I use to pay a small amount of money to a penpal company and get a list of 10 (perhaps 20) penpals and you would write to them all and see who was interested – it was so much fun :))
Thanks for reminding me of the good old days :)))
Hi Jo, like you I have simply replaced letters with blogging. I love the immediacy of it!
Thank you for your lovely blog and for mentioning me and posting the photo of us. I too loved the simple pleasure of penpalling and seeing a letter come through the door covered with brightly coloured and unusual stamps and stickers. I’m glad I’m from the era of penpalling instead of today’s era of texting. I’m so happy to have linked up with you, Catherine and Layne again through Facebook. I still have 2 penfriends, one in the UK since 1982 and one in the USA since last year as I wanted to take up this pleasurable hobby again. I could never get bored of seeing a letter with unusual stamps from another country come through my door. Thank you again Janet for a great blog down Memory Lane xx
It really meant a lot to us that you came to London to meet up last year. And you’re right, getting anything that doesn’t have a window face (ie a bill) in the mailbox is always a joy!
I really do wish pen friends was still a thing. I remember writing a few letters to Aunty Regina when I was younger and I could not wait to receive a letter in the mail! There’s something just so special about receiving a letter in the mail as opposed to sms or Facebook. Hope you have a lovely time with Catherine. Missing you so much Mummy xxx
It was so cute how you wrote to Aunty Regina! You probably would have had more fun though writing to someone your own age. PS Miss you more baby girl xxx
Oh, another good thing seemingly lost from a bygone era. A lovely post, Janet. I used to have pen pals too. One of them was a girl who was my best friend until 3rd grade, when her family moved interstate. Recently we reconnected via facebook xx
The wonders of Facebook!!!!
You’ve made me glad that I am just old enough to have had pen pals! I don’t think I kept in contact with any of them but it was great fun.
Sad to think it’s mostly a thing of the past now though 🙁
I feel so privileged to have been mentioned by you Janet, thank you!
I got my first pen friend through school (Elinor in Norway) and I still keep up with her today – we were even at her wedding in 2010). ibtruly miss writing and receiving letters via “snail mail” but for me, too, Facebook and emails have replaced the rattle of the letterbox. How sad. Having said that though, I truly wouldn’t have the time to sit down and write a long, chatty letter these days.
Everyone, I loved reading these comments – but i have to mention that penpalling is still a thing and its still very much alive. http://www.globalpenfriends.com is one of my favourites and they are helping people from all over the world to find genuine penpals. Its so cool – i have been using it for the last 10 years to find new friends from abroad.
Thanks for stopping by Michelle, glad to hear penpalling is still around!