Penpalling - A Family Hobby

Penpalling is a fantastic hobby -- all pals know that! It's also something that families can do and it can be a lifetime hobby as evidenced by Carol Sue's article!

By Carol Sue Osborne, MD

I’ve been pen palling since I was about 12 years old. My grandmother and mother were pen pallers so this is how I got my start. I have four sisters and out of the five of us three of us pen pal. I have four children and none of them are interested in pen palling. BUT...three of my grandchildren have already entered the pen pal world thanks to me. Dallas, who will be 9 in March, has been pen palling with Jesse Staines since they were 4 years old. They met last year at PPU and were honored for being the youngest pen pallers at the Convention. Jesse is the granddaughter of my pen pal Norma Byrne. Grandsons Brandon 11 and Bradley 7 just recently started palling and are excited about it.

I can remember when stamps were 1 and 2 cents. Also, you could mail a letter a penny cheaper if you didn’t seal it. I’ve had some interesting experiences through the years and so much friendship.

My first kiss came from a pen pal when I was 16 years old. I was writing to an older lady and she told me she was too old to write to me, that I should write to her son so I did. They were from Philadelphia and we wrote for years. Then I was invited to visit them. I couldn’t believe my parents let me go but they did, so I took the bus to Philly for the long ride and visited for a week. We went to see a Phillies baseball game while I was there which simply thrilled me, being a big baseball fan. And I’ll never forget going to the theatre to see Cleopatra. That was awesome! We continued palling and one night a knock came at the door and it was a police officer. He was asking if I had seen this girl (whom I never heard of). Come to find out it was John’s (my pen pal) girlfriend and she had ran away from home and they thought maybe she came to me. She eventually went back home because they married and had four children one right after the other. John’s wife then took over writing to me and eventually quit and I never heard from him again.

Then I had a pal write to me I think she was from Sri Lanka and she sent me this long list of things she wanted me to get for her (no charge to her of course), I couldn’t believe it. She wanted a silk blouse, angora sweater, shampoo, conditioner and these are just the things I can remember now. I, of course, quit writing to her.

One of the happiest pen pal happenings was the day I turned 18. I was still in bed and Mother called and said I had a phone call. I said, “Tell them I’ll call back”. Mother said, “Come up here now and answer the phone, ” so of course I did. Well, was I ever surprised, it was my pen pal from New Zealand calling to wish me a happy birthday. I was so thrilled. She had secretly written Mother a letter earlier and told her she was going to do this so she could make sure I was home. We wrote for years and then somehow lost track. I’m still trying to find her today. To this day I still know her address by heart.

I don’t think there is a hobby around that could be any better than pen palling.