Pen Pals

I had several pen pals when I was growing up. I think, one when I was in fifth grade and the other when I was in middle school. My first pen pal my teacher set me up with. The only thing I remember about her is that she was Jewish and that she was excited about her Bat Mitzvah. I acquired my second pen pal through a Christian girl teen magazine, Brio. The only thing I remember about her is that she liked coloring her hair. Every so often she would send me a new picture with her new hair color.
Do you remember what it was like writing pen pal letters. It was so awkward and looked something like this:
Hi, my name is Kristin,
I live in Mexico and I have two sisters, one older and one younger. Do you have siblings? We have a cat named Rascal? Do you have pets. I like to read. What do you like to do?
And so forth.
Mail was slow and I used to look forward to receiving letters from my pen pal. Excitedly I would open the envelope and read the stilted letter several times. Carefully, I responded to the questions and posed some more of my own. there is something special about receiving a letter in the mail with your name on it. Now, most of my snail mail correspondence is bills and credit card offers, not too exciting. Occasionally, I still get a good letter from friends or family. Knowing that someone spent more time to write the letter and post it makes them more special than emails and it is like a little piece of Christmas or a birthday in that you get to unwrap the letter and see what it contains. Writing letters may be outdated, but as a nice surprise for someone you love a real letter with maybe a picture or a cartoon cutout might just be the thing to make that person feel extra special.