Across the Miles

I received a note today from my penpal.  She and I have never met but her family and I have been Pen Pals all my life.  As a child, her father would send me birthday cards every year.  Apparently, I was the only person he ever knew to be born on his birthday.  I remember when I was a kid I looked forward to the card from the man I never met with the same inscription each year.  "Across the miles" was always on the cover and inside was always say with a simple "Happy Birthday" and his name.  He was a friend of my grandfather's and a war hero from what I am told. 

My initial Pen Pal past away some years back so I assumed I would be receiving one less card on June 10th.  You can imagine my suprise when the very next brithday I received a card from an unfamiliar address.  I opened it to find a birthday card from his daughter!  It was not an "Across the miles" card but had the same simple inscription inside only with her signature.  I was touched on so many levels.  First, the fact this man, a man I never met, must have told his kids about me and the cards.  I only received his generosity, I never sent him a card celebrating our joint birthday.  Second, his family cared enough about him to continue his tradition and so our families continue to stay in touch.

After that card, I sat down and wrote to his daughter.  In this age of cell phones and the Internet, it would have been much easier to call or email her but that felt cheap to me so I contacted her the "old fashioned" way.  I told her about my life, my family and how much I appreciated her continuing the tradition.  She wrote back with sweet words about my grandparents and shared things with me about her dad.  I cried and smiled as my heart burst with affection for this woman I would never meet.  I decided to expand the tradition some and began sending her our Christmas cards, Valentine cards, etc and occasionally a randome note with pictures of the family. 

The year E was born I received a Valentines Day card from her.  It may not seem like a big deal but the card was sent days before Valentine's and my loving husband just forgot to give it to me until then.  In it were the most kind words about my grandmother and how proud she would be of me, how much she would love my daughter, etc.  It may not seem like much but my grandmother had passsed away years before on Valentine's Day and while it is a day for love it is also one of rememberance for my family.  No one can tell me that was NOT my grandmother speaking to me from the grave.

Today I received her a simple thank you note for our Happy New Year card but in it she shared another fun joint family fact: my due date of April 1st is also her sister's birthday!  She is hopeful, as am I, that we can extend our little tradition to other family members. 

Funny thing is my Pen Pal lives just 30 miles away and has a daughter that lives less than 10 minutes from me.  We may never meet but we will always be connected from "Across the miles".