Pen Pals

A few months ago our oldest granddaughter asked me if I would be her pen pal. She was very excited about the prospect of receiving mail. To tell you the truth...I adore hand-written letters in my mailbox. In fact, before email, sometimes I would write 18 letters in a day to people I love in hopes to get a letter back. A few answered, but most didn't.

With the event of Facebook, I have been able to keep in contact with dear friends and family. I don't have to write letters with pen and paper anymore. I still miss it. Occasionally, I do write a letter. Usually, I don't get an answer. Some things never change.

You can see that the invitation to become a pen pal was right up my alley. Sierra told me that I was required to send the first letter and she would write me back. I was excited. I tried to find some pretty stationary to write on. Nothing. I went to town... no pretty stationary. Hmmmmm. I had to settle with lined notebook paper. I wrote to her. She is in third grade.

I got a letter back from her. One statement she made was to please not write in cursive. She didn't want to have her Mom read it to her. Oh dear. Grandma wasn't thinking. I spoke with her momma and she said that even my grandsons in high school can't read cursive. They don't learn cursive in school anymore. Wow. I didn't know that.

After getting the letter from Sierra I decided to ask my first grade granddaughter if she wanted to be pen pals. I explained what that meant and she was really happy with the idea. We also talked about she and Sierra writing to each other. That made her day! Since then, they have been writing to each other and sending drawings to each other and little handmade gifts. They love mail.

The first grader, Maci, is no stranger to writing letters. Since she was a toddler, she wrote 'notes' to the mailman who delivers to their house. He told her mom that he puts her letters on his fridge next to his grandkid's. That's sweet huh. She is excited to get real letters from far away and she writes a good letter as well.

In Sierra's last letter, she sent me a design for a dress for her Barbie doll. We had discussed this on the phone and I told her I would try to sew it up for her. (I hope I can.) It is quite a cute design. She and Maci had never heard of changing the clothes on their Barbies. Wow, things have changed. I had two Barbie dolls and a bunch of handmade and store bought clothes, hats, and coats for them. I spent more time changing their clothes than playing with them.

I also write to a little girl from Cambodia. She was my first pen pal. Terry and I 'adopted' her years ago. Her writing in her letters are maturing as the years go by. She also sends drawings to me. Some people write me letters telling me about reading the books I write. I love it. I guess that I am finally getting the letters in the mail that I long for.