I started penpalling when I was only 12 years old. It seems a lot of my penpals tell me the same thing, so this must be the age when the writing bug gets into people.

I'm not sure who my first penpal was, but I started writing through Maryknoll magazines, a missionary magazine that we received through our parochial schools that devoted an entire back page to other kids around the U.S. who were looking for penpals.

One of my first penpals was from Cincinnati, and her name was Elaine. We wrote clear through high school and beyond for a few years before I stopped hearing from her. While in high school we would take Greyhound bus back and forth to visit with one another! I always looked forward to and loved her letters, writing about school, The Beatles, and boys. I met the guy that she married and know that she had a daughter, but have always wondered what happened to her after that.

I have penpals that I started writing to in the early 1970s and some of these pals have become such wonderful friends. We have had our children together and raised them, and now we are talking about grandchildren and retirement together!

Isn't that amazing to think such a deep friendship could happen because of writing letters? Most of these pals I don't write to frequently, but when we do write, the letters are long and newsy. We already know everything about one another's families and it's just like talking to your sister.

I don't know how many penpals I have, but I'm also in letter robins, and I have international penpals as well. I guess I just do it all.

I can't turn down a potential friendship. It's almost impossible to believe that we can all be so different, and yet have so much in common. It doesn't matter to me what age my penpal is. I find that I have just as much to look forward to from a young writer and I love to hear what she has to say, as long as they don't mind hearing from a grandma (who still feels inside like I'm about 30).

My heart is always broken when I hear of a penpal who has died, and that is happening occasionally as I grow older. I look forward to hearing from my wonderful friends and can't imagine the day will come when I will be missing them.

I have met many of my penpals and find that penpals are the friendliest people in the world. I have some who I travel with, who I see frequently, and some who I know that I will never be able to meet ~ but that's okay. We have our letters to tie us together.

After 35 years of penpals, it's a way of life. It's MY life!