Oops! Letters sent to the wrong penpal

[Mia]

Oops, appears I was in such a rush earlier this week, I mixed up two letters (I hope only two, as I did send out 4 letters on the same day). Nothing overly private or secret, mainly answers to two sets of Five Questions.

I like reading letters, and have two volumes of Letters of Note (haven't finished the second volume yet). I have bought old postcards already written and had been sent years ago saying how much they've enjoyed visiting some place, the weather had been kind...

[emeraldscribbles]

Well, it will for sure give you an interesting conversation topic in the next letter!

[Mia]

I came across some used postcards in a charity shop. One was written by a child:

To Dad
You must have the Chinese
From
(I can't remember the child's name)

Another postcard was comparing Sussex to Devonshire, written in 1963:

Dear Edana Violetta,
A Sussex friend claims that Sussex Villages are much prettier than those in Devonshire. Do you agree? He also claims that the Downs are more inviting than Dartmoor. It is nice to have such rivalry. I can't make up my own mind on these issues!!!!

There were a few more written postcards from the 1990s. I didn't have time to read that many!

[eunice]

I got my letters mixed up when I was writing to two German ladies, both called Sabine. Most of the time I got their letters separately. But once they came in together,and I answered them at the same time. (Well, not strictly speaking at the same time. I only have one right hand!) Of course you can guess what I did; put the wrong letter in each envelope.Luckily they saw the funny side.

[Mia]

Maybe Sabine & Sabine became penfriends too!

Through the February projects, I have penpals with the short form of their names being Mel. Melissa & Melanie. I have to concentrate to remember which is which! I hope I don't write "Dear Melissa" to a Melanie!

Ultimately, this has gotten me thinking about who will read the letters after the recipient has died, or no longer wants the postcards. Through Postcrossing and its forum, I have received at least 3000 postcards. I have kept them all. Some letters I write, especially if they are answers to Five Questions, would not reveal too many secrets if others read. Other letters can be more personal. However, I did like reading the love letters mentioned in Simon Garfield's To The Letter (and the letters are available in a book of their own - Dear Bessie), and the letters Shaun Usher has compiled letters of note into two volumes.

[hoyabella]

Jul 22, 2019 13:29:39 GMT eunice said:

I got my letters mixed up when I was writing to two German ladies, both called Sabine.

That's one reason why I'd never choose a random name from the Inco list! :-D

[stompie]

I was doing a letter to a French pen pal, put it one side for a while as I was also writing to 2 American pen pals. I posted the America letters off and now can not find any trace of the letter to the French Lady!
And, at the same time I was also writing to a pen pal in Germany Sabine eunice - I wonder if we do not share a pen pal?

[ginny]

Mar 18, 2023 10:33:24 GMT stompie said:

I was doing a letter to a French pen pal, put it one side for a while as I was also writing to 2 American pen pals. I posted the America letters off and now can not find any trace of the letter to the French Lady!
And, at the same time I was also writing to a pen pal in Germany Sabine eunice - I wonder if we do not share a pen pal?

stompie, chances are that it's not the same Sabine. Sabine is a very common name here, or rather, it was... in the 1960s and 1970s. Like Claudia, Anke, Heike, Annette and Christiane - like Sabine, those were extremely popular at that time.