10 Pen Pals Who Finally Met, Including a Reddit Post for a Friend That Ended in a Wedding

People
10/30/2026
10 Pen Pals Who Finally Met, Including a Reddit Post for a Friend That Ended in a Wedding

My grandmother wrote to a woman in Manitoba every other Sunday for 31 years and kept every reply in a box to the left of the stove. They never met, and she said that was part of the deal. These 10 pen pals broke that deal, some after three years of letters and some after 60, and the first hello was worth the wait.

Two Middle School Pen Pals Finally Met After More Than 60 Years of Letters

“Assigned as pen pals in middle school to help learn to write in cursive, they remain close friends over 60 years later. But, on September 15th they finally got to meet face-to-face.”

Two 8th Graders Became Pen Pals in 1990 and Just Celebrated Their 25th Wedding Anniversary

“This is everything pen pal and I exchanged beginning in 1990 (8th gr). Just had our 25th anniversary”

So, my wife and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We initially connected back when we were in 8th grade, in an international pen pal fair. From that point on, until college, we exchanged letters, cards, gifts, crafts, etc.

After a year at LSU, they asked me to represent LSU abroad so I put my name in. I’m Cajun and we don’t wander far so I’d never been anywhere. I wanted to take this opportunity, because they would pay for it. Scared to go anywhere but the pen pal I’d been writing to lived in a university town that was on the list, in Ontario, Canada.

So I went and lived there for two years finishing up my undergrad. It was clear after that point we were meant for each other — that was 1996. We got engaged and were married in 2001.

She moved down to Louisiana and then Houston, where I was working.

Been here ever since. We’ve got three amazing kids and a wonderful life.

And these letters and tokens were where and how it all started.

A School Pen Pal Program in South Philadelphia, and a First Meeting 42 Years Later

“Mike Rafferty participated in a pen pal program in South Philadelphia when he was a student at St. Gabriel School. Forty-two years later, he met his pen pal for the first time.”

From the author:

Grandma wrote her Manitoba letters at the kitchen table every other Sunday, after the dishes and before the news, on thin blue airmail paper that folded into its own envelope. The replies went into a shoebox to the left of the stove, next to the cereal. The stamps lived in the drawer with the good knife, which tells you how seriously she took them.

She Posted That She Was Looking for a Friend, and the Pen Pal Who Answered Became Her Husband

“Married my Reddit pen pal last weekend!”

I posted looking for a friend, and he was among the responses. We got to messaging then texting then Skyping then eventually met in real life!

We have been together almost 8 years now. Closed the distance in 2020.

They Started Writing at 10, One in Mumbai and One in Wisconsin, and Met 20 Years Later in Chicago

“Met my first penpal in person after 20 years of first writing!”

My penpal G. and I started writing to each other when we were 10, and today we finally met in person in Chicago. This story goes as far back as when she was living in WI, USA and I was in Mumbai, India. We shared hopes, dreams, teenage drama, heartbreak, beliefs and angst, school, travel and career stories and saw each other evolve through our letters.

Now she lives in AZ and I’m in Chicago, and we met when she came down to visit family for the 4th!

All to say, we somehow ended up in the same place at the same time, and it was great. I was skeptical and didn’t think we would click, because over the years we had evolved in our beliefs, and gone different ways with life, but we did!

All to say, it worked. I’m so glad we stuck it out and didn’t let adulting get to us too much. I’m awed at the beauty of human connection!

To Find Her 1970 Pen Pal, a Stranger Wrote to Six Men From the Phone Book

When I was 14 years old in 1970, I had a pen pal from South Africa. We wrote for 2 years.
We eventually lost touch.

Fast forward to the year 2000. I used to have a website and I gave out awards if people applied for one.
A sweet girl from South Africa applied for an award and I gave her one. I told her about my ’long ago’ pen pal. I told her which city he lived in.

About two months later this sweet girl wrote to me and told me she found my pen pal. She found 6 guys in the phone book with my pen pal’s name. She wrote to each one a hand-written letter and asked if they remember a girl from Maryland, etc.
One guy wrote back and gave her his phone number.
She called. It was him. He told her all about me and said he kept all my letters.

He called me. We talked for nearly 2 hours.
Here we were, all grown up, and now we could talk on the phone for the first time.

I’m still great friends with the girl who found him for me, too.

Two Girls Became Pen Pals Through a Children’s TV Show in the Late ’70s and Met Nearly 40 Years Later

“After writing to each other for nearly four decades, cross-country pen pals Sandi Fisher and Beth Graham finally met. It was their first time meeting face-to-face since they started sending each other letters in the late 70s.

The pair ‘met’ when Fisher was in the 4th grade and Graham was in the 5th, through a children’s television show. They continued to write to each other as they grew. They had spoken about visiting each other since they were teenagers and now their wish finally came true.”

From the author:
By my count, Grandma sent about 800 letters to Manitoba in 31 years and never once bought a ticket. The friendships in these stories that lasted survived at least one change of address. Grandma signed every envelope with her full name, because addresses change and names don’t. In story 6, a name and a phone book were enough to find a pen pal 30 years later.

A 1972 Photo From a Pen Pal’s Wedding in France, With Mom Next to a Man Who Is “Most Certainly Not My Dad”

“My Mom at a pen pal’s wedding in France, 1972”

She’s next to the guy with the moustache who is most certainly not my Dad haha.

Pen Pals From the UK and the US Met in Real Life After Three Years of Letters and Skype

“She’s from the US, I’m from the UK. We met on this subreddit over 3 years ago, and just met in real life!”

Megan and I came across each other on this subreddit three years ago. We hit it off pretty quickly and soon became close friends. On Thursday her and her boyfriend came to visit me all the way across the pond!

It was a super bizarre experience to meet them in real life after years of Skyping, letters, and instant messaging. Suppose it’s my turn to visit them next. I was incredibly lucky to meet such a great friend online.

Finally meeting was like meeting an old friend, with the bonus of seeing them in three dimensions and being affirmed they’re not a murderer haha.

Their Mum and Dad Were Pen Pals First, and This Photo Is From the Day They Finally Met in the ’80s

“First time my mum and dad met in the 80s after being pen pals for a while. They are still together today, this will still be my favourite picture of them.”

A letter takes days to cross an ocean. The friendships in these stories took years, sometimes decades, to reach one front door. The couple in the last story wrote to each other first, and their child still calls the photo from the day they finally met a favorite.

Did you ever have a pen pal, and do you know where they are now? Tell us in the comments.

Preview photo credit the-local-dreamer / Reddit

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