^{Desclaimer: Photos overload!}

If there's one thing I could be grateful for being born in the 1980s is that I was able to have pen pals!

Here's a creatively made letter with all the glitters!

Notice the date that this letter was written. That's 1999!

Majority of the teenagers these days might think what's a pen pal?

A pen pal is actually the expression referring to those people who regularly write to each other. It came from the two words pen and pal. A pen is basically the material used in writing and pal means friends! So that made it into pen pal!

Four pages of hand written letter from Jesell.

Since the inception of the digital and web age, pen pals had transitioned and eventually switched over to the digital realm. But because I treasure all of those letters I had exchanged with friends, I kept all of them with me, stored in a box and stashed in my room in Bohol.

Pikachu on a paper!

Today, let me share with you those letters I have saved for decades and I am thankful I did. I believe they'll stay with me for the rest of my life because they are fun to read and it brings a lot of memories back. I would even giggle when I start reading one of them.

It was in grade school when I first started having pen pals. It was Jeselle whom I consider as my first ever pen pal.

Jeselle usually draws on the letters she sends me.

These papers are really a hit before. Most of them are scented!

We met during a Youth Camp in Ubay, Bohol. Although she lives two towns away, we would still send our letters at the post office. It normally takes around a week before we receive the letters.

What I love about it was the fact that we address cute and colorful letters. Handwritten letters were made with effort and most of them were personalized especially when there were celebrated occasions such as birthdays.

Sometimes she uses a typewriter too! Very vintage indeed!

Jeselle even sent me friendship rings included in the letter. She was really an artistic person as she mostly paints and designs the letters she sends me.

We normally talked about our daily life especially school and our crushes. She oftentimes advises me with scripture citing and proverbs of which I greatly appreciate.

All of these are precious to me!

Drawings in my letters were really something that Jeselle won't miss.

Even the envelopes have those desgns.

I couldn't add all of her letters in here so I'll proceed with the other. But overall, she was the person whom I sent letters most of the time, she was also very diligent in responding to each of my letters.

I also had other pen pals from other towns but still within Bohol. I had friends from other schools too and we often send letters through hand mailing.

What I meant with that is someone's tasked to lend the letter to me or to the other person. In such way, we won't be shelling out any amount for the postal fees, I totally believe that was the best way since I don't have much cash get before. I would even ask my parents to fund my postal mail fees.

I even kept some of the negatives from highschool!

This letter is really amazing, once I pull the lower part, it reveals the entire letter body.

One of my pen pals love to hand letter, here's one.

I usually receive cards too, personalized just like this one.

And who won't forget to write "Smile before you Open?"

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"SMILE BEFORE YOU OPEN"

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Aside from having pen pals here in the province, I also had two foreign pen pals.

Back in the days, some specific Samaritan Purse organization came to our place and gave Shoe boxes full of stuff. Lots of us were able to have school supplies coming from those shoe boxes. There were also toys, kits, and even food! Oh, I recall some even had dollars!

But what's extra special about my box was the fact that it has a letter in it.

That letter was written by the kid who prepared and sent that box and all that was in there.

Of course, her address was also stated. And because I love sending letters, I wrote her a thank you letter. It took over a month after my father sent the letter to the post office before I received a letter back from her. Alyssa was her name.

Since receiving the letters take more than a month, she greeted me Merry Christmas and also happy birthday for January.

She loves my letters because according to her, She feels like I had exerted a lot of effort in writing it. Also waiting for one letter reply gives us excitement and a sense of having something to look forward to.

We have been pen pals for more than two years. I remember her sending me a box of goodies from the US! I still have the coins she sent me as those were her collections she shared with me. She even sent me photos of her family and her cat. It was nice recalling those.

That's my entire snail mail collection!

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Patience is a virtue

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Perhaps the best lesson I could earn from having pen pals is having great patience. In the digital age, everything comes in instantly, which perhaps explains why most kids nowadays want things instantly without having the courage to patiently wait.

How'd you like to receive a letter in a soda?

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