57 Years After Becoming International Pen Pals, 2 Women Finally Meet in Person
I would argue that the simple gesture of a handwritten letter is slowly dying as we get more engrossed with technology.
While technological advances have helped build bridges of communication between long distance friends, the feeling of getting a text notification will never compare to the feeling of opening your mailbox and seeing a thoughtful letter from a friend or family member.
I like to consider myself an old soul, so I still enjoy sending postcards, letters, and boxes to my friends when I get a chance. I just know how happy my heart gets when I receive mail so I try to spread that joy to those close to me as often as possible.
Connie Male agrees with me. She said, “I still like to write letters. I think it’s nice to get something in the mail and something to open with a picture enclosed.”
See, for Male, handwritten letters have brought her one of her longest and dearest friends, a woman from Sweden named Gun-Britt Efraimmson.
The Minnesota resident first reached out to Efraimmson in the fifth grade when the two were assigned as pen pals for a school assignment.
Even after the official assignment ended, they continued sending letters to each other and became good friends. They’ve continued to write letters to each other for almost 57 years!
They shared many life events together through letters with pictures enclosed. “We’ve gone through lots together through letters. We got married, had kids, watched our kids get married and now we’re grandmas,” said Male.
And at the end of the hundreds of letters Male sent over the past six decades, she always extended an offer for Efaimmson to visit Minnesota. Efraimmson never took advantage of the offer until just recently.
On June 6, 2018, the two pen pals finally got to meet in person.
In anticipation of her Swedish friend coming, Male told Fox 9 News that she would probably cry as soon as she saw Efraimmson.
The video that showed the moment is definitely emotional. Effraimmson even showed up wearing a bracelet that Male had sent her when they were 15!
“This is a happy moment, but next Wednesday will be sad because then I won’t want you to leave,” Male told her dear friend.
They only had a week to spend with each other, but big plans were made: Male showed Effraimmson around Minnesota and Effraimmson taught Male how to make Swedish meatballs.
These two pen pals’ friendship is a sweet reminder that beautiful things happen when people take the time to write letters to each other. Maybe their story will inspire you to find a pen pal of your own.
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