Once, there was an 11 year old girl called Hannah. She thought the idea of having a pen pal would be pretty cool. So she wrote into one of her mother's lovely homeschooling magazines, something like this:
'Hi! My name is Hannah and I'm 11 years old.
I would love a girl pen pal with the same interests
as me. I like animals (especially horses!), craft and collecting
stickers, stamps and swap cards. Please write to me!'
A few months after her request was published, she received a letter! The letter was written by Janelle, who was 13.
Hannah was quite chuffed that a 13 year old wanted to write to her! How old!! And Janelle was no Aussie girl either.
She lived overseas! All the way in New Zealand. Hannah was fascinated by this girl, her country life and her seven siblings! She was a little jealous that Janelle lived next to a horse riding places, and got free lessons for shovelling up horse poo!
They started writing back and forth sharing important information like what their favourite colours were, their best recipes, and what they wanted to be when they grew up.
Hannah and Janelle shared a love for stickers, so a sample of their collection accompanied each letter. As the years went by, they matured a little, and started swapping beads instead.
They never missed each other's birthdays, and always sent a card over to the other.
As Hannah and Janelle grew up, life got busier, and the world become more reliant on technology. Snail mail became no longer, emailing was the thing to do now. Hannah was a bit disappointed, but was determined to keep in touch.
Then a few years later, along came Facebook.
Hannah's other friend persuaded her to get one, although Hannah preferred to be different than everyone else. But Hannah enjoyed it, and eventually Janelle joined Facebook as well.
They still had a long email every now and then, but enjoyed 'seeing' each other on a more day-to-day basis.
Hannah and Janelle both had a love for photography, and inspired each other by sharing their photos to the other.
They chatted every now and then on Facebook, but Janelle told Hannah to download Skype, so they could have more lengthy conversations (plus- better smileys!). They would text the other (oh yes, mobile phones came in at one stage too!), saying 'Can we chat?' and have 2 hour long chats on Skype, their fingers typing furiously.
After seven years, they though it was just about time that they met in person, and as Hannah's 18th birthday was coming up, this seemed like the perfect plan!
(from here)
~~~~~~~
As Hannah's plane flew over New Zealand, her heart beat hard, knowing that Janelle was only 20 minutes away. It had been a long day; she'd left home at about 7:00 in the morning, and now it was dark already.
The plane landed, and Hannah walked out onto the tarmac, heading towards the building. She saw Janelle through the window, and waved and grinned nervously. Janelle waved back.
They met and hugged and picked up Hannah's bag.
~~~~~~~
Hannah knew she liked Janelle.
But spending seven wonderful days with her made Hannah like her even more! Janelle liked Hannah too, of course. They went shopping (and bought Akubra hats for $3!),
got their eyelashes tinted, caught up with a girl that Hannah went to Cambodia with,
rode horses, watched chicks and ducklings hatch out of their eggs, tramped around the farm with no shoes on, went to the beach,
rode over green hills clinging onto the back of a four-wheeler (complete with a dog in the middle of them), showed each other their earliest letters (and had a giggle over them), stayed up late talking and just basked in the sunshine.
It wasn't all love and dove though; there was the kitchen to clean up, clothes to fold up, eggs to wash (who would buy eggs with chicken poo all over them?), and chicken food to grind.
But they still had a great time. Hannah felt right at home and Janelle enjoyed her company.
When Hannah returned home to her family, she thanked her parents and told them that it was the best present she could have asked for!
~~~~~~~
It was a bit embarrassing for Hannah to walk through all three airports wearing a maxi dress and an Akubra (there was no room for it in her bag!! ;)
(P.S. Hannah and Janelle still continue their friendship to this very day, with phone calls added to their collection of ways to communicate. Hannah has plans to go back to Janelle's house in New Zealand one day, but first Janelle has to come and visit Hannah in Melbourne!!)
