Pen Pals Spark 60-Year Friendship

Sixty years ago, 12-year-old Diane Hatt in Canada reached out via a newspaper ad seeking a pen-pal—and connected with Joy Doevendans in Australia. Their friendship sparked in 1965 when they started exchanging letters and has endured both distance and time. They finally met in person in 1980, 15 years after their first letter, and the meeting solidified their family-like relationship. Over the decades they’ve adapted their communication—from snail-mail, to email, to texting, and now to video calls. The two families became matched pen-pals too: the mothers also wrote to each other, creating a multi-generational connection. Joy and Diane stay in touch constantly, never going more than a couple days without speaking, and travel across the world to see each other whenever they can. A 7,500 mile distance has been no match for their enduring bond, showing the power of friendship, love, and the written word. 

Image via ABC

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