I have a Pen-Pal

Do people even have these anymore?

I'm scared to admit my age, so I won't. But believe what you like. My internet persona and sharp wit is unmatched in the real world.

For the real world is bleak. Bleh.

I have younger friends, and we were talking the other day. Somehow we all got onto the topic of "Who's the oldest friend you have?"

Age, for this context, longest lasting friendship.

They think for a moment, and they all point at me.

Laughter, but gosh. I'm not old, but I realised then that I really am a mother hen. An old soul, always 'mature' for my age.

Well, if it was a competition, I have the oldest friend. A friend of my grandma's, who is in her 90's.

I don't know her age, and I'm old enough to know that asking ANYONE their age, unless it's like:

"Oh, how old did you turn today?"

or

"Ma'am, could you please state your date of birth, age and place of residence,"

It is considered uh, *rude*.

Or unless you're randomly playing a "guess my age and then try to make me feel old" game, in which saying "a hundred and eight" to a very clearly 25-year-old (at her birthday party, mayhaps) is a 'bloody go for it' situation in my mind.

I feel old when I watch Despicable Me 4 and notice callbacks/scenes from past movies. But the target audience wouldn't get those references, so it's "original content".

Hm. Okay. Pen-Pal.

This friend of my Grandma's is my pen-pal. But, I'm sorry, disclaimer:

We email each other.

What?!

Give me a name suggestion then. Text-friends? Email-buddies?

No ring to it, so it's not the same!

If you think of a cute little name that could be used for the emailing of two friends of afar, comment it! I'd love to find a official-unofficial name, to avoid the scandal of saying Pen-Pal.

Pen-Pal.

See? I know it annoys you.

I don't really know why I'm writing about it, but it's to do with joy. Definitely.

Receiving an email from my Pen-Pal - one that isn't a reminder for work, spam, an ad, or a message from someone random who has the wrong email - brings me unbridled, raw, bright, joy.

It's so much fun. I can hear her voice in the way she writes. We give each other book recommendations, complain about the heat, and then the rain - but there's no pressure. No pressure to think a certain way, to agree or disagree. We can be funny, we can talk about what we're good at (procrastinating housework) and what we're bad at (sewing). And so we find more that we have in common.

I went to Italy when I was little. I met an Italian girl, older than me. We became Pen-Pals. But I never wrote, because I wanted to learn Italian first.

Now, I've learnt Italian - at least to enough of an extent to cohesively explain, "Hey, I don't know if you remember me but we met once a long time ago. I'm sorry I never wrote, I was learning French and decided that a Google Translate letter wouldn't really..."

I have another Pen-Pal, my Auntie. Who lives far, far, away.

She sprays perfume on her letters. Once, I put one in my drawer to remind myself to reply, and I opened the draw and it smelt like her.

Her signature perfume, now the signature smell of my drawer. I never thought a drawer could smell nice. But it did.

I always write chunky letters, to the point where if I use a nice sticker to close the envelope, I have to put sticky-tape over the top of it too.

It's always nice to write to another human, and know that they feel the same when they get a letter from you. And the same when they check the letterbox everyday, even on weekends, even though you only posted your letter yesterday. And the same when they open the drawer that smells nice and the smell reminds them that they have a letter in the drawer, and that they have an Italian Pen-Pal and that there isn't an existing word equivalent of "Pen-Pal" for people who email each other in the same way.

This is the thing that makes me love humans. We want to see each other, raw. We want to doodle on the pages with little flowers, and add stickers and glitter and perfume because they'll be reminders of that moment.

And when the stickers are different or the glitter changes colours it means that there was a glitter and sticker shortage and that's why the letter took a bit longer to come.

I have a Pen-Pal. And I like hearing the voice she has in the words she types.

~

Something different, 'cause I'm in a sentimental mood.

I'd love to hear your ideas on the email Pen-Pal name!

Thanks for reading and whatnot.

- Red 🌱