Question of the Day - Monday, March 20, 2023

[MoochNNoodles]

Sorry for my delay. I’ve been running all day and now I don’t want to get up off my bed. DS and I made corndogs with a kit from Pillsbury before I sat down. He even delivered me one in here.



Have you ever had a penpal?


I have not more than one letter that was exchanged because of it being arranged between schools back in elementary school. One of our local libraries is trying to start a group with kids in another country but I don’t see either of my kids enjoying it. I used to write my best friend at least once a week back in middle school after I moved away. That doesn’t seem like the same thing because we knew each other so well. Our moms would say “no more stamps till next week/month!” Email wasn’t a thing yet and calls were expensive. But I lived for those letters!!

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Yes, I had a penpal in France for several years in the ‘90s, and if one counts email, several (one of whom I even met) in the US and Canada since then. Sadly we’ve all drifted apart since then.

 

[misty8723]

Yes, I have one right now I've been friends with since the 1970s. When I was younger I had dozens, but we've all drifted away since then. I am not very good at keeping up with correspondence these days, but it was something I really love when I was younger.

 

[denice]

I had a few when I was a kid but we didn't stay in touch.

 

[bbdoll22]

Yes. I was in grade school and that’s all I remember. Lol.

 

[neely]

I had a very thoughtful pen pal I met on a dog site. We were like soulmates and always talked about meeting in person because my youngest and her youngest were applying to college at the same time. Unfortunately it never happened and after both our kids graduated we sort of lost touch.

 

[NY cat man]

No. Given the circumstances, there was nothing that I could write about that would interest some kid in another country.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Not in the usual sense of the word. I kept in contact via letters with my elementary school psychologist who helped me start talking again until she died when I was 27. We would meet in person sometimes, but it was mainly letters. She had a significant impact on my life so I have always had the intention of using her last name for my future kid's middle name.

 

[strider rose]

yes its one of my hobbies actually ... i have roughly 17 pen pals and i write to women in the military too

 

[iPappy]

yes its one of my hobbies actually ... i have roughly 17 pen pals and i write to women in the military too

That is really cool!!
I have a pen pal I've known for 20+ years. We write a few times a year, we've discussed a lot over the years. I have a few others that we chat online often and I enjoy it a lot.
We went to Long Island when I was about 6 or 7. My sister and I befriended two other kids, and we all agreed to be pen pals. One of the girls was younger than I (probably about 4-5) and I was so excited to get a letter from her. When we got a letter in the mail, mine was a note that said she was "too young and can't write", and my sister got a long letter from the other girl. I was so annoyed!
Our class had some pen pals in elementary school. It was always really fun sending and receiving letters. We never kept in touch though.

 

[Jem]

I used to have 2. One I would write to didn't last very long but the second one we wrote each other for years, however we have fallen out of touch as we got older.

 

[Winchester]

I did when I was younger, before Rick and I got together. A guy I met while my family was camping. We wrote back and forth for a number of years. Then he went to college and Rick and I got together. And that was that.

 

[maggiedemi]

Yes, in elementary school. Her name was Maria. I lost touch with her. I have somebody that used to be on this site that I still email with. So that's sort of like a pen pal.

 

[Lari]

I signed up for international penpals in 5th grade. I was matched with a girl named Debbie from Northern Ireland, and ended up with a second, some boy from Sweden or Germany or somewhere (I wasn't as into him). I do wonder what happened to Debbie sometimes. I tried looking her up on facebook and she may be an artist, but her name is not uncommon enough that I can't 100% be sure that's her.

 

[vansX2]

Yes, I currently have a penpal from Germany. I've been corresponding now for about 4 years. I met him on Facebook as we both belonged to the same Subaru Club and owned similar cars. I quit Facebook but still communicate via emails.

 

[aliceneko]

I had a couple in primary school, both were friends I made on holiday and we stayed in touch. We eventually lost contact when we both got older though, but it was a fun thing to do as kids. One lived in Italy and the other lived in another part of the UK.

 

[cassiopea]

I did, had a couple when I was a kid in the 90's. We connected through a horse magazine for kids - there was actually a section where kids could write little blurps about themselves with their address (Sort of like personals in a newspaper) to welcome letters and can connect with each other with our common interests throughout Canada and U.S.A.

In retrospect of course, you can see the glaring safety issue right there lol but it seemed innocent at the time and it was otherwise a fair idea on the surface. And THANKFULLY, no issues occurred on my end and made some neat penpal friends for a couple of years.

It was nice, but like others we all since long drifted apart. Penpalling definitely seems like a bygone thing nowadays.