Last week friend of mine, from Michigan, called to express her loneliness, as she is mostly by herself. I tried to encourage her to be more socially active in church and even with her own neighbors. But that didn`t much appeal to her. Soon I found out, that all she wants is a life partner. Somebody to call her own. Kids- check! Husbands- check! Working life – check! All been and done and now aging alone hits the spot! She has a cat that is her only child and lots of time on her hands. Out of the blue idea struck me! You need to find a pen pal! Like back in a day people would put ads in newspapers to find friendships and more. She agreed that, its a good idea. As I got big smile on my face that it could help her to possibly find a good man or at least new friendships through communicating. She said : “Find me a pen pal!” Without even a thought, my answer was “Sure!” I didn`t know where to start, how to do it ,but I was determined to help a friend, whatever it takes!

As I have never seen any newspapers with pen pal ads in USA, I decided not to bother with running to newsstand and straight away used computer. Google search displayed many results. So to speak: GAME ON! Coming across many websites with interesting prepositions it was clear that many seniors nowadays are becoming more computer literate, which was a pleasant surprise. Many places would provide information only upon registration. As well more places would offer e-mail pen paling rather snail mail (regular postal mail) which was my main concern.

Keeping in mind that I need to find friends in 50+ group and old fashioned writers, kept me hunting through many places. Three websites that did not require registration and offered snail mail pen pal options where: penpalsnow, sassociations and retirement-online. I sent out around 40 e-mails and wrote down around 10 potential candidates to write to, as their addresses where displayed in ad. More then above, I was pleased with results, as people who responded where polite and friendly as I explained the situation.

Just before bed, I finished a letter of encouragement to my friend; to write to all of them and keep faith no matter what! Only by reaching out you can receive what you desire. Let it be speaking your mind or writing a letter to a stranger. There are ways to step out of your own world to see what life has to offer! Now I really hope she will step up and infuse her life with more people and stories. Dang, it feels good to set up a “blind date!”