Writing letters was one of my hobbies as a kid. I loved writing so much I had more than 100 penpals at one time. I still have some of their letters! My penpals’ ages ranged from ten years younger than me to ten years older. One of the thrills of having penpals was mail waiting for me upon coming home from school. It was a joy finding different colored envelopes by our doorway, decorated with interesting stamps and handwriting that ranged from loopy to calligraphy-like. I’d put down my school bag, settle into a wicker chair and read, read, read the letters from my friends around the world. I LOVED those moments. I’d then take out my stationery collection and start writing to each one.
At one point, the mailman was delivering letters to our home everyday. He asked our housekeeper, “May artista ba’ng nakatira dito?” (“Is there a celebrity living here?”) That was funny!
My correspondence with my penpals faded over time. I guess we all slowly outgrew that activity. The only one I’ve consistently kept in touch with is my cousin’s best friend from the States. Her name is Anna. We’re now blogmates. 
One penpal surprise came from my penpal from Bulgaria. Let’s call her Sarah. After four years of not exchanging any letters, Sarah snail mailed me out of the blue asking if I’d like to continue our correspondence via e-mail. We now do. Sweet! And a couple of days ago, I found the travel journal of another penpal, Stacey!
My penpal days were really, really fun. Lithuania, Bulgaria, U.S.A., Canada, Africa, Spain, Indonesia, Korea, Hong Kong, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, even within the Philippines and many other places were brought to life through letter-writing. It’s a shame that the term “penpal” can be tainted by malicious terms. There were kids like me who wrote with sincere friendship in mind, and thank goodness I found kindred spirits across the miles.
While those days are long gone, I’ve pretty much become addicted to another form of it — blogging. It’s amazing how many fantastic people I’ve met through blogging, and how some of these blogging relationships have carried on into real friendship. All is good, all is well. I’m still doing two things that make me very happy: writing and making good new friends.
Hi! I'm Toni Tiu,
and I've been blogging at
at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.
barbara
May 13, 2006 at 8:08 am (18 years ago)doesn’t it feel good? i’ve lost in touch with some of my friends and pen friends when we moved to australia, but the power of technology does wonders – yes, i’m a big fan of blogging and emailing people these days – i remember getting excited choosing which stationery to use, the scented ones or a simple one, do i use a coloured pen? scented pen? how about the stickers that was soooo in then?
ah, memories. happy blogging for you!
-B
Meeyagirl
May 13, 2006 at 1:23 pm (18 years ago)galing naman toni! letters from friends are always so valuable. i used to have penpals too pero hindi naman ganyan karami, hehehe. some were actually the friends i’ve made from my previous school that i promised to keep in touch with when i transfered to another school. now that i think about it, after all these years, those girls i’ve met in grade 2 and 3 are still good friends of mine until now 😀 and now that we’re “older”, we keep abreast about what’s happening to one another by reading each other’s blogs! 😀
i hope you’ll find more of your former penpals and be able to rekindle your acquaintances. simple as it is, it’s a great way of helping keep this planet small enough – that even with just words, we keep each other always within reach.
JO
May 14, 2006 at 1:36 am (18 years ago)I used to have lots of pen-pals too… but not as much as you do… and from it, I started a collections of stamps and different currencies. I would send them our P2 or P5 bill and they will send me their lowest currencies too.
I dont have the letters anymore, but I do kept some of the cards I got. These cards are now part of my scraps/photo albums.
jey
May 14, 2006 at 8:50 am (18 years ago)i am happy i met you through blogging.
jojo
May 14, 2006 at 5:16 pm (18 years ago)hey this is cool!
kaya pala ang ganda talaga ng handwriting mo 😉
sachiko
May 14, 2006 at 8:16 pm (18 years ago)i’m seeing your great ideas and good find links here and there toni..resourceful ka talaga!
pen pals..ah..using the pen instead of clicking the keys..good ol ink.
sha
May 15, 2006 at 1:07 am (18 years ago)toni we are pretty much the same writting and penpals
up to now i still send cards no matter which port end up
its such a pleasure using pen sticking stamps
and hearing the clang sound of the mail box
hell from me
and if u email me yr addy
i can send u cards as well::: how is that?
jane
May 15, 2006 at 2:23 am (18 years ago)happy mother’s day!
evi
May 15, 2006 at 1:47 pm (18 years ago)i’ve done it in high school, too. just like what you said, it faded over time. i started the cycle all over again in college after the world youth day. i was a facilitator then. i managed a group of malaysians, indonesians and thailanders. some were younger and others were older. we exchanged letters for about a year or two. and it ended as well.
BabyPink
May 17, 2006 at 2:33 am (18 years ago)i love receiving snail mail far, far better than receiving email. oh, but i love emails, too. personal ones, not the forwarded ones (but i don’t mind forwarded ones, too. i learn a lot from them and i always read them except that i don’t really forward much.). i’ve always loved letters. i never had penpals, though. i wrote to friends who moved to other schools. ganun lang. hehehe:)
Lissa
May 21, 2006 at 5:13 am (18 years ago)Oh my gosh.. I remember writing letters to you guys. I used to write all the time the first year I came here sa States. I’m really sorry that I didn’t keep up pero I’m so glad we found each other again.
iska
May 21, 2006 at 5:56 pm (18 years ago)my sis may beat u with the no. of penpals hehehe when she was a teenager she had lots of them. i wasn’t like her though. as a kid i wrote to friends i already knew. and yes u r right about those great people we meet thru blogging.. and i do enjoy talking to them tru emails and chats…