Pen Friends

I had a French pen friend called Annie, a big and very solemn girl from her photos, and extremely accident prone (she once crashed through her bedroom ceiling while putting something in the loft and broke both arms). She sent me for my birthday a carved wooden box full of liqueur chocolates that got a battering en route - I still remember the postman standing at the door holding a soggy, sugary, dripping parcel at arm’s length.

And then there was my clean cut American pen friend, Randy, who penned boastful (and probably very fanciful) letters full of his supposed exploits with mind-expanding drugs and stolen automobiles.

Our friendships started when I was 12 or so and petered out about 5 years later. I’d love to know what happened to them.

Welshwife, 72 years is amazing! I wonder if that is some sort of record.

I had a penfriend at school her name was Ingrid and she was from Germany she came over to visit me I can’t temember much about the visit to be truthful but I have photographs so I know it did happen ? I don’t know how we lost touch after a few years, probably when I left home at 18 I do wonder what happened to her if she’s still alive or not
I ve had other penfriends over the years which have lasted a year or two then worn themselves out my best friend had hervpenfriend from school to when the friend died a couple of years ago

I had 2 penfriends when at school. One was a French girl, lived in Paris, called Odile Esperet. We wrote for about 3 years, then she just stopped replying. I still have a photo of her. The other was a girl a few years older than me, she was Maltese, named Jane Camilleri, she lived in Valetta. I think that she must have wanted to correspond with someone older, as we didn`t write for long, she stopped replying.

I wrote for years to a girl who I had been friends with at primary school; she moved to Kent when we were about 7. The correspondence carried on until puberty, but fizzled out when we were about 14.

We were encouraged to write to our partners who we exchanged with in our twin town in France. I lost contact with mine, but I remembered her name, and that she had moved and become a midwife. I googled her name and the town and "sage-femme" and it appears that she is still there and still has the same name (not married?) and is a very senior midwife.

I didn't contact her, but I was pleased that she had done so well.

I still have a penfriend .

He was a client of a company I worked for in the 1990's . His English is good ( which is lucky because my Flemish is not !!) .

So we have been penfriends for over 28? years. We met once about 20 years ago just for a day and found we still liked each other enough to be penfriends so have carried on.

Every year without fail he sends me a handmade Belgian chocolate Easter Egg and a huge box of chocolate s on my birthday. He travels extensively to bizarre and exotic far off place and always sends me a gift.

Some of them have included |: 13 metres of hand made batik cloth , a wooden cat with a 3ft perpendicular tale from new Guinea ( the postman struggled with that one !!) Sand from the Sahara, Indian face paints , a stamp of my name in Chinese .... the list goes on .

My husband is perplexed that we find anything to write about as we are so different.

I wish we had kept all our letters to each other it would have made quite a pile by now.

Reading this, I've just remembered I had a pen friend. I learnt German at school and they arrranged for us all to have a pen friend in Germany. I used to love writing to her and receiving letters back. It was so long ago now, I can't remember her name or what part of Germany she was in. We never met.

I wonder was it my earlier mention of having penfriends world wide Chewbacca that prompted your post, but nevertheless if it was or not,I am more than happy to oblige and share with you a few of my stories from those seemingly far off days!!!
I started with many around this country,several very productive girl pen friends that enjoyed a long and happy existence,but also especially I had a penchant for serving sailors at that time,so it was great fun having these replies from various areas of the world, and hearing a little about their culture and way of life.
There were a few delicate questions such as my chest size etc but on the whole all very innocent.
Some pen friendships went on for years and for some now forgotten reason, we gradually lost touch with one another.
Perhaps though the few penfrienships I made in this country and actually met with, will make more interesting reading!!
Though not much to tell really.
One I recall was from the uni in Cardiff,and although he came over as very highbrow, we managed to rub along for a while and then came the inevitable request to meet up.
I remember it well,how I had my hair done and I donned nice clothes suitable hopefully for this city meet.
He was nice and gentlemanly,not exactly a "looker" and yes very intellectual, which made me feel a bit uneasy!!
We enjoyed a day of strolling around a few of the sights and then decided to go for a row on the nearby lake.............only just saving ourselves from flipping over board!
That certainly served to "break the ice!!"
Then it was time to return to his digs and I was getting increasingly nervous.I wanted no extras but was far too young and naive to actually express myself.However a big sigh of relief when I found I had my own bedroom and the first job was to place a chair under the door knob... as I certainly wished for no nocturnal visits!!
He seemed quite happy with the arrangement so we were both much more relaxed the following day.
That next day he drove me to the next big town and that drive,both there and back truly put the wind up up me as I had never been driven at such a helter skelter rate, and never met so many lines of fast moving traffic before (coming from the heart of a slow moving farming countryside)............and quite frankly that ended the short friendship for me...........and I think he too sighed a huge sigh of relief!!
Another time this other male penfriend chose to travel to meet me in my own home town, and as I entered the station catching my first glimpse ......I took to my heels and scarpered ......never again hearing from him, and in fact it put paid to any further "meets"

Having letters with all the varied news was one thing,a real delight,but actually meeting up is quite another.
Yes, it could just as well have been successful and I could have met the love of my life ...............but that remains just perhaps wishful thinking!
And yes............there were many more penfriends but I think I shall leave the space for others to fill with their stories!

My pen friend was my best friend from secondary school, she was also one of my bridesmaids.
Whist studying in Seville she met her future husband, came back, finished her degree and moved to Spain to run the family bodega with him.
We corresponded for years and I too loved to receive the blue airmail letters.
I also loved the feel of the paper.
She suddenly stopped writing after 30 years, no reason given. I once saw her after she stopped writing, in our home town with her mother and was quite hurt that she obviously had moved on and our friendship was over.
I never knew what I had done. To be fair, we eventually had nothing in common.

I didn't have a pen friend when I was young but have one through a Facebook book club. Sadly she suffers from OA as I do and her letters were undeciperable - we just use the Facebook page now so in that sense I have several friends mostly in USA.

I have a pen friend and we have been writing for 72 years. Started just after the war when her school in Australia had a collection and sent a food parcel to my school. I was given her name to write a thank you letter and we have continued ever since. Started by snail mail and then airmail and now email. She has visited me twice and I have been there once. When we were out in the bush one evening we were talking about how we got to write and she told me it was the children who contributed 10 shillings who had their name put in the parcel - her grandad gave her the money!
When we meet it is as if I only saw her yesterday and we probably know more of each others secrets than anyone else!
Her parents also came to stay with me a couple of times and also her daughters.

Never had a pen friend when I was young, but I do now have a Facebook friend. She lives in Australia and is the sister of my cousin’s deceased wife. We’ll never meet but it’s great to be included in her life and see how things work there. A new way of pen friending?

I still have a penfriend, and have had several throughout my life. Computers have taken over mostly, but my one penpal in America loves snail mail and so we have agreed to stick to that.
My first was an American boy called Wayne, - whatever happened to him I wonder. Then I had a Swedish pal for many years. And a lovely Canadian lady until she died. etc.
I have never met up with any of them, sadly.
There used to be a website called Fishing for Friends and that is where I met Shirley (My American pal) over ten years ago now.