For 48 years, childhood pen pals Terry Zwerlein and Sarah Spaans Carlson have written to each other from opposite sides of the United States, never actually meeting.
Until now.
Ms Zwerlaid, of Warwick, New York, said she was very excited to meet her pen pal, who she met through a teen magazine pen pal program in 1967 at age 13, , 9News reported.
“I gave her a big hug. It took a long time for it to happen so it was fun,” she said.
The pair met on October 24 when Ms Zwerlein flew to Michigan, where Ms Carlson lives.
“It was great,” Ms Carlson said. “I was looking forward to it for many, many years.”
Ms Zwerlein said the distance never effected their friendship.
“The distance didn’t mean anything. We talked about everything … Over the years I think we became much closer,” she told the ABC.
In their earliest letters, the girls wrote to each other about boys, music and shopping, though as years progress so too did the subjects of their letters. In time, they were even writing to each other about their kids.
“It was the big events in life … like when (Ms Carlson) got married and when her daughter passed away and my sister passed away, we just knew we had to tell each other what was going on,” Ms Zwerlien said.
In 2015, the pair now only write at Christmas and on birthdays, instead jumping on the Facebook bandwagon to communicate regularly – just like the rest of us!
Have you ever had an experience, or any sort of long-distance relationship like this?
Image via (WZZM13)
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