Pen Pals

I still remember the days of pen pals. From when we were young, and you'd have that friend that maybe lived in another country, or another state, or at that time, even just the next town over. I had a few different pen pals after our first sleep over camp in elementary school. There was no email back then. And sure, there was the phone, but it wasn't the same. There was something special about taking out that 'special' stationary, sitting down and writing.

Well. In this day and age, even despite email, IM, GChat, Twitter, Facebook, and my blog, I've managed to get myself a pen pal. Ok, so it's not exactly the same. We're not mailing each other letters. We do it over email. But the emails we share with each other are long and thoughtful. They're reminiscent of the letters I use to receive from my childhood pen pals.

Each and every time I receive an email from my pen pal, I drop everything. I have to read it right away. I'm always excited to see what story the email will bring. To hear what's going on in my dear friend's life. And to search for the pearls of wisdom that are always shared. I know I can always share my honest thoughts, and that there is no self editing. We're ourselves. And not trying to be anyone else with each other.

I feel lucky. My pen pal and I have only met in person a handful of times. And I really think we became friends via phone and email even before our first meeting. There was an instant connection. I felt 'good energy' and knew that there was a special bond.

In this day of technology, where I fall asleep to tweets and wake up to Facebook status updates, my pen pal provides me with a breath of fresh air.