My penfriend of more than fifty years has died

[DSJ]

When I was fourteen, in the 50s, I applied for a penfriend through 'School Friend' magazine. I was matched with a girl named Betty from Sunderland. She was just three weeks my junior.

Betty & I have corresponded through the years and have even spoken on the telephone. We never met.

Earlier this week, I had a telephone call from Betty's daughter to tell me that her mother had recently died. I feel so sad that we never met.

[Charisse]

My condolences. I have 3 "pen friends" and enjoy exchanging handwritten letters as well as email. 2 are in Australia and the 3rd is in Canada.

[clydeserani]

Oh I am sorry to hear that..Mibbe you can make an arrangement to meet her daughter at some point for lunch or something, it would be an opportunity for you to swap stories and may help you grieve...

x.C.x

[crazycathy2]

DSJ that is sad but her daughter must have known about you and realised what a good friend you were to Betty or she wouldn't have got in touch.

Maybe you would never have met even if she hadn't died. It is sad that you have lost your penpal but 50 odd years is a great achievement. you must have shared so much.

[DEN53]

What a shock that phone call must have been DSJ - but how thoughtful of Betty's daughter to have phoned you.

Even though you cannot replace your friendship with Betty - perhaps you could correspond with her daughter, which may bring some comfort to both of you.

God Bless xx

[DSJ]

How nice of you all to send me your messages. We wrote about everything under the sun in those 50+ years. Betty had two brothers & I was an only child. We were like a couple of sisters, sharing all our secret thoughts with one another.

I actually have another penfriend with whom I've been corresponding for even longer than I did with Betty. At school in 1950, all the girls in our form were matched up with girls from a school in Stockholm, Sweden. The idea was to help the Swedish girls with their English.

I was matched with Yvonne Olsson, a girl six months my junior. We have corresponded ever since. I was invited to Yvonne's home in 1959 & spent ten days there. Yvonne, her fiance John, her mother & father all came over to my wedding in 1961. Yvonne & John married in 1962 but we could not afford to go over to Stockholm for the wedding.

John often came to England on business over the years & Yvonne would accompany him. They visited our home a couple of times but our reunions were mainly in London.

We're both happy grandmothers nowadays and both still married to our original spouses.

[Razzle09]

Hi DSJ
I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. Your posting is an inspiration. Many of todays relationships are 'throw away'. I'm told on face book it's commonplace to have more than 100 'friends'. One can only question the quality. I'm assuming that you friendship involved letter writing - something that is also becoming a lost art.

[DSJ]

Yes, I love letter writing.