I found letters from my long-time pen pal the other day.  They were in one of the storage totes that were filled to the top containing all kinds of things that were packed away after moving back home from California.  They had been here in storage for over 25 years.  My pen pal and I had begun to write after meeting in a London Park while I was on a 6-week trip to Europe with a group from my high school.  I was 16 at the time.  He was a young actor in a play in one of the parks there.  He and his friend both wanted to be pen pals with me.  And so they began to write to me.  His friend pooped out after a few letters.  But my new friend, Colin and I wrote for years.  

He was by far the best pen pal ever!  I had other pen pals before this, but they had stopped writing like his friend had done.  But Colin and I really got to know each other over many years. 

He lived in Birmingham and was 3 years younger than me.  I think he saw me as “an older woman.”  I enjoyed reading about his school life, the girls he “fancied” and his absolute love of Motown music.  A while back, I sent him a copy of a single letter he had written way before I found the treasure trove of them in the tote.  He couldn’t believe what he had written then, as I am sure I would feel the same if I saw one of mine. 

Anyway, we wrote throughout the time I was in college and for some more years after I was married.  Then he left England to be close to his girlfriend who lived in Iran.  We lost touch after that.  I hadn’t heard from him and sent a letter to his mother who forwarded it to him.  But he never received it.  Thirty years later, he found me on Facebook.  We began to write long emails to each other trying to catch up.  He married his girlfriend, they had three children and I had 2 children and 2 grandchildren.  Now I have 3 grandchildren and he has 2, I think.  Forgive me, my memory is failing me. 

A few years ago, my husband and I went to Europe and were in England for about a week, along with some other countries.  We were able to stay with them at their home where they gave us personal tours of wonderful places close to their home.  And then they invited us to go with them to the Lake District where they went “on holiday.”  We accepted and went with them.  We talked and played games and had such a wonderful time!  And it was all because Colin and I had become pen pals.  We had equally enjoyed our letter-writing all those years and would always write back, right away.  And because of this, we became friends.  Wonderful friends!  We are still friends and have truly enriched each other’s lives.  It’s a blessing.  And I am so grateful .