Pen pals, we know, come in all shapes and sizes; and best of all, can be all ages! One of the beautiful things about having pen pals is that you can get to know someone perhaps a great deal older (or younger) than yourself, someone who likes some of the same things you do and who you might never otherwise get to know.
My first pen pal, when I was about ten years old, was a distant cousin who lived in Michigan. My family visited her one summer and as Pat was close in age to me we exchanged addresses and began writing our first letters.
Then in high school, a teacher asked if any of us would like to have a Vietnamese pen pal. My new pen pal's family was political refugees from Vietnam. She attended a Catholic girl's school in New York, run by the same order of nuns who taught at my high school. Nam Hai and I corresponded until graduation. I often wonder what happened to her after that; I lost track of many people after getting married and moving to West Virginia in 1960.
The move provided many new people to correspond with; my parents, childhood girlfriends, siblings, and former classmates. But it wasn't the same as having a pen pal.
Then other pen pals came into my life. One of them was Betsy. When my children and I went to Ohio for summer vacations, Betsy and her husband drove south from their home in Michigan to take my children and me for a week's vacation at their home. We spent a glorious week. A few years later, Betsy and her husband, along with their children, would pay us a visit in West Virginia.
Then I became acquainted with Eileen, who lives in Australia. Now there's an interesting story about my introduction to Eileen and her family. I had actually written a letter to another woman in Australia, someone named Margaret, whose letter was published in Women's Circle, requesting pen pals. Margaret received such a flood of letters that she didn't know quite what to do; so she took stacks of them to her tennis club, spread them out on a table, and invited anyone interested in «An American pen friend» to help themselves. Eileen chose my letter because we both had husbands named Jim and sons named Steve. That initiated our friendship.
^ A5 The author's cousin was much older than her. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated
A6 The author stopped corresponding with many of her pen pals after getting married and moving to West Virginia. l)True 2) False 3) Not stated
A7 Betsy visited the author three times. 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated
A8 Eileen chose the author's letter because they had much in common with their families.
l)True 2) False 3) Not stated