My pen pal recently passed away. Hurts a little more than one might think, seeing as we never met. I've had four pen pals in my life. Two I lost track of, and two passed away.
I suppose folks don't have pen pals these days, too old fashion. The current trend is E-mail pals or Facebook friends.
Since most of us on this thread are of an older generation, I'm thinking more than a few can remember pen pals.
Fond memories?
Dislike writing..
Fixable typing is ..ok..
Fwiw...
I miss the nice folks that have pasaed or just disapeared..on these fourms.. :0(
Two regrets. I met a girl in Utah in 1967 at a camp, I was 15. She lived in Wisconsin, me in Kansas. I regret our penpalship died (my bad) a couple of years later. While cleaning out the storage unit a couple of years back, Marilyn found the stack of letters she sent me-and read them while chuckling. Her comment, "boring!". I did a google snoop and found her life on the internet. She has had a great life, and was doing well.
Other regret: Upon making a friendship with an old Trinity University retired professor while In Dublin visiting and drinking, we shared snail mail contact. After an enjoyable year or two penpaling, again, I let it die off. He was fascinating to discuss cultures, politics, and Guinness. Brad
I had a pen pal when I was a kid. I'm the only one my age I know that had that experience. His name was Esteban, he lived in Spain. We were good friends, although we never got to meet. One day we just stopped writing, not sure really what happened. But I do miss that.
Written letters are underappreciated. I have all the love letters my dad sent to my mom when traveling for work. They are a treasure, and when I first found them I became acutely aware of how kids truly do not actually know who their parents are as people beyond being parents. My kids will never see all the loving chat messages I sent to my wife, and there's a bit of sadness to that I think. We still send Christmas cards. About 50 a year. Not many people do that anymore either. I make my kids write letters to their grandparents, and they seem to enjoy it.
I think the loss of handwritten communication isn't really understood until much later in time, when you're looking back and don't have them to reinforce the memories.
Edited by - KCJones on 12/06/2024 08:35:38
It is interesting that you use the term 'pen pal'. When I was married to a black American woman, she was adamant that it was 'pin pal' and I just could persuade her otherwise. Maybe it was just a regional dialectical variation?
I can remember prior to computers writing for all types of communication but now I'm too shaky to write very well & use the computer or have my wife ( who still has beautiful writing) do it for me .
Way back when a draftsman in engineering all dimensions , notes , etc. , were hand printed on a drawing & then came computers .
Edited by - heavy5 on 12/07/2024 08:56:01
Had one boy in India.
Sent him a cheap camera, got some pictures.
Met a girl, 1962, at a theater convention.
We wrote a couple, back & forth.
Had one in Nebraska, after I was grown up and working full time.
Actually went to visit her a time or five.
I enjoyed corresponding with a Japanese penpal during high school/college and we eventually got to meet. But, that was more than forty years ago. More recently, at the start of COVID, someone offered an old-time music penpal opportunity through Facebook, and I signed up. I had a chance to exchange letters with three people while I was doing some serious distancing, and it was a delight.
The modern equivalent of the pen pal, for kids, is possibly the online gaming friend. Kids meet in online game lobbies and become friends with people from all over the world, talking on voice chat while playing, sometimes eventually meeting in person. They form quite strong bonds despite being so far apart.
This brings to mind "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin," a movie which I thoroughly enjoyed. I won't go into detail here, but it Googles. :)
KCJones wrote: "The modern equivalent of the pen pal, for kids, is possibly the online gaming friend ... They form quite strong bonds despite being so far apart."
I write weekly postcards to my granddaughter at an out of state university. She never writes back. I used to wonder if she valued them. My son helped her move to a new apartment a few months ago. He sent me a photo of a display in her room of all the cards I had sent her.
Rick
quote:
Originally posted by banjonzIt is interesting that you use the term 'pen pal'. When I was married to a black American woman, she was adamant that it was 'pin pal' and I just could persuade her otherwise. Maybe it was just a regional dialectical variation?
Maybe she was a Terry Pratchett "Going Postal" fan?
As a loyal Milwaukeean, I shall INSIST that "PIN PAL" be reserved for describing people on one's BOWLING team!
^^ That gal on the far right was a fun one, you betcha!
quote:
Originally posted by manderquote:
Originally posted by banjonzIt is interesting that you use the term 'pen pal'. When I was married to a black American woman, she was adamant that it was 'pin pal' and I just could persuade her otherwise. Maybe it was just a regional dialectical variation?
Maybe she was a Terry Pratchett "Going Postal" fan?
I had no idea until walking around Dollywood one day a few years back when I could afford to go. They have a shop that sells lapel pins of anything you can think of. Small, collectible pins, any subject under the stars and stars too. It turns out they have a "Mayor", and at the time, if you saw him with all his hundreds of pins on his vest, or any employee that had pins, you could stop them and ask to trade pins. So believe it or not, "Pin" pals is a thing after all. People trade those things all the time on vacation. Whodathunkit?
Another subject they most likely don't teach in school any longer is how to properly compose and address written letters and communications. I even have a technical writing manual that has a section for composing proper written correspondence for business. Fourth or fifth grade, if I remember correctly, for personal communication, and college for business correspondence. You could say it's an art form. But you can also say it's a lost art, along with cursive writing, how to compose paragraphs and write essays and stories - thought process and flow. It just seems too many unnecessary topics have entered our schools lately, And that is enough said so I don't get in trouble with the moderators.
I have plenty of internet mail and chat friends around the world, but I would be happy to be a pen pal by old fashioned mail again.
quote:
Originally posted by Elmo_Smileyquote:
Originally posted by manderquote:
Originally posted by banjonzIt is interesting that you use the term 'pen pal'. When I was married to a black American woman, she was adamant that it was 'pin pal' and I just could persuade her otherwise. Maybe it was just a regional dialectical variation?
Maybe she was a Terry Pratchett "Going Postal" fan?
I had no idea until walking around Dollywood one day a few years back when I could afford to go. They have a shop that sells lapel pins of anything you can think of. Small, collectible pins, any subject under the stars and stars too. It turns out they have a "Mayor", and at the time, if you saw him with all his hundreds of pins on his vest, or any employee that had pins, you could stop them and ask to trade pins. So believe it or not, "Pin" pals is a thing after all. People trade those things all the time on vacation. Whodathunkit?
Thanks!
