Two pen pals meet after 45 years
Posted: Monday, August 11, 2008
WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) -- It started off as a school project. Two girls from two opposite ends of the world brought together through pen and paper. Sue Bogen of Watertown and Vicki Petre of Australia have been pen pals for 45 years and saw each other for the first time early this month.
Bogen and Petre have been keeping in contact through numerous letters and e-mails throughout the years, always keeping an eye out for where each other moved.
"Vicki grew up in Hobart, Tasmania, and moved to Sydney when she started nurses' training. She still lives in a suburb of Sydney. I grew up in Richfield, Minn., went to college in Mankato, Minn., and have lived in Milwaukee, Wis., and Kansas City, Kan., before moving to Watertown," Bogen said.
The first weekend of August, Bogen and Petre met up when Petre's plane arrived in Sioux Falls. Petre traveled to South Dakota as part of a trip where she will tour the world for 16 days with her husband, John.
"Lovely, I'm very impressed," Petre said of South Dakota during a phone interview Aug. 3. "Quite a lot like home, to be honest with you."
While talking, Bogen and Petre found their lives have been quite the same and quite parallel. Both have gone through the same things while raising their children. Petre had three children and Bogen had two. Bogen's son was actually the first connection Bogen had made with Petre.
"He was in Australia with my daughter-in-law, and Vicki gave me her number and told me to have him call her when they arrived," Bogen said.
Her son was able to hang out with Petre and get to know her since he'd only heard about her in letters and seen pictures of her on the fridge while he was growing up.
"We kept in touch on holiday," Petre said. "Seeing her was like distant relatives."
Petre went on to say they knew everything about each other and had seen pictures but they had never met face to face. Then Bogen's son gave her a glimpse of who Petre was.
"When we said she was coming to Watertown, my son said he was coming home, too, because he wanted to see her and John again. Said they were just fun people," Bogen said.
The women started corresponding when they were around 14 years old and it was either for a school project or Girl Scouts, they don't exactly remember now. The details are a little fuzzy for the women.
What sticks out in the minds of the two pen pals is going to the post office to get "air-a-grams." Bogen said it was a letter, "you could write all over except one side, then fold it up like an envelope. It was cheaper than mailing a letter."
"She responded every time I would write a letter. I think that is what kept it going," Petre said.
Bogen and Petre each had a few other pen pals, however, those never panned out.
"I think it's because we are so much alike," Bogen said.
Bogen plans to vacation in Australia to meet up with Petre again. There are no signs of them losing touch with something that started 45 years ago. The rest, like they say, has been history.
Bogen and Petre have been keeping in contact through numerous letters and e-mails throughout the years, always keeping an eye out for where each other moved.
"Vicki grew up in Hobart, Tasmania, and moved to Sydney when she started nurses' training. She still lives in a suburb of Sydney. I grew up in Richfield, Minn., went to college in Mankato, Minn., and have lived in Milwaukee, Wis., and Kansas City, Kan., before moving to Watertown," Bogen said.
The first weekend of August, Bogen and Petre met up when Petre's plane arrived in Sioux Falls. Petre traveled to South Dakota as part of a trip where she will tour the world for 16 days with her husband, John.
"Lovely, I'm very impressed," Petre said of South Dakota during a phone interview Aug. 3. "Quite a lot like home, to be honest with you."
While talking, Bogen and Petre found their lives have been quite the same and quite parallel. Both have gone through the same things while raising their children. Petre had three children and Bogen had two. Bogen's son was actually the first connection Bogen had made with Petre.
"He was in Australia with my daughter-in-law, and Vicki gave me her number and told me to have him call her when they arrived," Bogen said.
Her son was able to hang out with Petre and get to know her since he'd only heard about her in letters and seen pictures of her on the fridge while he was growing up.
"We kept in touch on holiday," Petre said. "Seeing her was like distant relatives."
Petre went on to say they knew everything about each other and had seen pictures but they had never met face to face. Then Bogen's son gave her a glimpse of who Petre was.
"When we said she was coming to Watertown, my son said he was coming home, too, because he wanted to see her and John again. Said they were just fun people," Bogen said.
The women started corresponding when they were around 14 years old and it was either for a school project or Girl Scouts, they don't exactly remember now. The details are a little fuzzy for the women.
What sticks out in the minds of the two pen pals is going to the post office to get "air-a-grams." Bogen said it was a letter, "you could write all over except one side, then fold it up like an envelope. It was cheaper than mailing a letter."
"She responded every time I would write a letter. I think that is what kept it going," Petre said.
Bogen and Petre each had a few other pen pals, however, those never panned out.
"I think it's because we are so much alike," Bogen said.
Bogen plans to vacation in Australia to meet up with Petre again. There are no signs of them losing touch with something that started 45 years ago. The rest, like they say, has been history.
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