I mentioned in a previous post that my first best friend moved away when I was in second grade. Sadly, we did not have any contact information, so we lost touch and I never saw or heard from her again. When my daughter was in second grade, her close friend also moved away. Covid had just entered our worlds, and her friend’s family made a very quick decision to move to Florida to be closer to their relatives. She did not get a chance to say goodbye, and I felt so sorry for her.

Fast-forward two and a half years, and my daughter finds a note in the mailbox from that same friend. Apparently they were driving through town and thought to pass by and leave a note with their new address and a request to be pen pals. We were so excited!

I had several pen pals when I was young. Most of them were friends I met at summer camp, one of which lived in Spain. My friend, who I only saw in the summers when we went to Pennsylvania, is still my dear friend, and we still send cards to each other. My grandma was my pen pal for several years. I even had a pen pal from Germany. I’m not sure how that came about, but I’m pretty sure it was along the same lines as a chain letter. Remember those? People who participated were supposed to get so many in return, but that never happened for me. What a gimmick!

As a blogger, I obviously like to write, but mailing letters seems to have become a thing of the past. When emails were invented, I sent them off to friends and family, but now email is associated with work, so I don’t write many for fun. Texts took over next, but those aren’t even close to writing or receiving a letter. When my daughter got the request to be a pen pal, I was so excited for her. We both love getting things in the mail. Maybe I should start writing letters again, but who would write back?