Sending Mail to Strangers

I am horrible at mailing things out. Chances are, if you receive any kind of letter from me, it's traveled all over NYC for a week in the search for a convenient corner mailbox (that's why your Christmas card might've been a bit bent...and late). And bills? Forget about it. I've all the best intentions, but since I pay everything online, those are the ones that I forget about and find months later sealed and forgotten in the back of the drawer.

But do you remember pen pals?  Do you remember when you were given 50 minutes in elementary school to wrote a letter to a penpal? I know that people write to inmates, or send care packages to family or soldiers serving overseas. But I feel as though the trend is pretty much dead (although swap boxes still remain), and if you were to ask future generations what they thought of letter-writing, chances are they would have to stretch their brain a bit. It would be like asking us to imagine the penning of the Declaration of Independence. A dark evening, a single half-burned candle dripping wax onto an old wooden table. A quill and an inkpot. For future generations, maybe Harry Potter will have future kids of the world will closing their eyes, imagining owls delivering mail.

I grew up writing letters. That probably started because of a book series called Penpals.

The "Penpals" book series centered on 4 girls wanting to talk to boys, but being that they attended an all- girls boarding school, they were boyless. They put an ad in the paper requesting boy penpals, and started writing to students at the neighboring all-boys boarding school.

Today, this would be a horrible idea. But, in the 90s, this was basically long-distance flirting, by paper. I mean, A preteen romance novel. I ate it up and even signed up for my own penpal, mailing in the penpal request form on the last page of the book. My penpal and I were great. I mean, they sent me a girl and I was hoping for my preteen true love, but I was happy just getting mail addressed to me.

Also, I wanted to be a babysitter because of "The Babysitters Club" , own a horse because of "The Saddle Club" and live in California because of "Sweet Valley High". But then changed my mind when I realized they were all crazy.

I currently have a penpal, one that was I got from an infertility card swap I joined last year. We kind of kept going, sending cards back and forth, filled with congratulations and condolences. Bible verses and sometimes asking for advice. And of course, I know I loved getting some mail wasn't a credit card offer or bank statement.

So tell me...
Do you have a penpal?
Will the practice of being a 'penpal' exist in 20 years?
Anyone else fall in love with the idea of writing, horses and boarding schools from these books?

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