Pen Friends

Part of my goals for this new year is to get back to the things I enjoy.

One of these is keeping up with my friends both here and abroad.

Nearly fifteen years ago I gained some penfriends in England through the English Woman's Weekly. Over the years the 12 pen friends has reduced down to just a few and I also now have some in Australia and one in USA, but I have delayed writing to some for too long.
I must admit with the demands of life and my misconception that I need to check on things online, I let the personal touch of a hand written letter slip by the way.

I have always enjoyed learning about where these people live and what is going on in their lives. For some we have seen children grow and leave home, get married, have children of their own, experience loss of loved ones and the concern of being alienated from family, endured sickness, moving house and all other everyday events. I may not have been able to be there but with a cuppa I have felt I am almost there.

I know that emails, facebook and forums are a quick and easy way, with almost instant response in some cases, to keep in touch but I still enjoy a letter in the mail. There is something very special reading mail on carefully chosen paper that has been written by hand with the persons own personality wrapped up in it all that makes posting letters a treasure. You can't really curl up with a laptop like you can with a letter turning crisp pages, maybe having a little extra something included and seeing the stamp and post mark that shows its journey.

So Saturday saw me make up some tea and toast for lunch, take it out to the deck with some writing materials and make a very belated catch up with some of my friends across the miles.