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TEXT: ASTHA GUPTA PICTURES: AMANDA HOH/702 ABC SYDNEY, GETTY IMAGES
t so far...
“One time, before Christmas,
I wrote to Gail about how we were
planning to go swimming because
it was so hot,” Heather recalls.
“When her reply letter came,
I realised how our worlds were
poles apart. She was talking of being
in the freezing cold and building
a snowman.
“But even though we lived on
opposite sides of the world and were
so different, we were so similar.
“We were both in the Girl Guides,
we both became primary school
teachers and we got our classes
to write letters to each other in the
1970s. Now we both work with
students with disabilities.
“It was always like having a close
friend who just lived miles away.
Travel was so expensive then and
it was unheard of to go to America,
so I was happy to simply get to know
her side of the story. Through her
eyes, I was seeing a world I could
only imagine.”
While Heather and Gail lost
touch for a good while as Heather
was busy raising a family, they
certainly never forgot each other.
“When Facebook came along
I looked her up,” Heather says.
“I sent her a message and she
promptly replied, filling in all the
details of the past years.
“It was so much easier
after that. We frequently
commented on and
‘liked’ each other’s
pictures, and updated
each other on any family
developments.”
The women met for
the first time in 2010,
when Heather and her
daughter Kathy travelled
to the US.
“We were visiting my other
daughter in Canada and, on the
way back, we stopped in Portland
to see Gail,” she says. “She brought
her daughter-in-law Tara and, as if
it was destiny, she and Kathy hit it
off. They talked and laughed for
hours together... they were a similar
age and got married around the
same time.”
With Kathy and Tara – both now
new mothers – also regularly in
contact, the initiative that started
it all is well and truly a tradition.
And who knows? Someday the
fourth generation may like to write
to each other and even meet up.
Remarkably, Dulcie and Nancie,
now 92, still diligently write letters
to beloved penpals. Heather says
with a smile, “They’re still going.” •
RRITE STUFFE UF
DDu i aaa cice;;
Naa i sssho ss
pphhotttt fffBB b
n
REEE
N TIO SS
Keen writersKe wiit ttt ,,,
e,,Nacie
nnnddddddHeHeatatatatattheheheheerrrr
