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?