"Dear Pen Pal"

November 2, 2011.

Way before E-mails and texting and Blackberries...and viruses, there was the simple, poignant, and long-forgotten task of corresponding to your loved ones in legible, handwritten cursive letters (not shorthand, mind you) on paper, informing them of the events, however important they were, in your life.  Moreover, it afforded an opportunity for the correspondents involved to be as unique and personal with their letters...and themselves...as they wanted to be.  I seized such an opportunity...thirty-two years ago...when I enrolled in a kid's pen pal program, soon after I watched an episode of The Big, Blue Marble, one of my favorite television shows at the time. 

On one cool, cloudy October afternoon, I received my first letter from a boy (who was the same age as I)  in a small town in Pennsylvania, only to find with amazement and delight that he enjoyed the same things I did, inspiring me further to write back to him.  And as time went on, our mutual interest in games, sports, and arts/crafts developed into conversations about adult and heavier matters, such as our aspirations to attend college someday.  I even went so far as to initiate a phone call with him, once I had my parents' permission! Our correspondence, which also started with an exchange of photographs, lasted two years.  Even though those letters are long lost, I cherish, to this day, the impact...and my pen pal, my first and only...have on me.  

This drawing, a sketch of the very picture I mailed to him, isn't really a call for the return of writing letters. Manually.  However, it demonstrates my appreciation for my memories of a time when kids expressed themselves fully and creatively and said far more than just a simple OMG or IMO to a BFF.  And to me, that was a BFD!