I'm a 22 years old female from Nigeria. It's sad to watch foreign movies and see that my country is almost always depicted as a very fraudulent country.. And while I do not disagree entirely with this image, I also want to correct the impression that all Nigerians are fraudulent or out to defraud you of your money. We can be smart, creatives, really pretty, intelligent, excellent writers, conversationist and a whole lot more. The isolation is getting to me and I've decided to use it wisely. So if you wish to meet a Nigerian who lives in Nigeria with a good heart and kind smile... Then please send me a dm. I'll love to meet you too☺️

r/penpals https://imgur.com/a/vye0kzZ

Today, I finally met my incredible penpal u/sweetpotatofries8960 after way too long. We connected here and went on from emailing to texting everyday. I just want to thank her for everything she has helped me through during our time as penpals, I don't know what I would have done without her. It is the most wonderful feeling to now have her as my "real life friend".

Thanks to r/penpals for bringing us together. To anyone reading this, make the effort with your online friends, it is so cool that I have the greatest friend for life after sending one message because of her stupid post about never putting laundry away!

I now have to awkwardly fill this space with 500 characters and I haven't got much else to say so I guess I will just remind ya'll to reply to your penpals, don't put it off, you don't know what you're missing.

Hi everyone.

I thought I wanted to share my story:

6 years ago, a February evening, I replied to a message in this sub. We started messaging back and forth, one thing took the other and we fell in love.

We decided to meet finally, first time! I drove 11 hours through 2 countries to see her and it was love at first sight.

We started a LDR immediately and things continued to grow, fast. Two years later, she moved to Denmark and we were now living together, great!

I popped the question when she was doing dishes, we got married in 2021.

Unfortunately she had stage 4 cancer in all her body. We went through 5 different chemo treatments, nothing seemed to work.

This year on March 2nd, she took her last breath. She was only 42. Now I’m back to being alone, trying to navigate through life without my rock.

I found true love here, had the most wonderful 6 years of my life thanks to this subreddit. Thank you

As you all know there are rules to this subreddit. Specifically BDSM penpals or other subreddits that use other apps.

There is a user that's been commenting on other female posts, which had me curious so I did a little look around. Turns out he's been commenting on bdsm posts as well and only posts NSFW requests or BDSM requests. His username is u/ masters_bsdm_daddy

HE HAS BEEN COMMENTING ON MINORS AND OTHERS POSTS AND WILL REQUEST PICTURES OF YOURSELF OR ASK FOR OTHER THINGS TO MESSAGE YOU ON! BLOCK OR REPORT HIM!!!! I have screenshots as proof.

Seriously guys, stay safe and hope you don't message with creeps on here and be wary of messaging others.

Also his account is like 5 days old like wtf. There should be like limits to subreddits people can access.

Her name is Olga, she’s never experienced romantic love, she is from London England and moved here to Canada when she thought she was to be married but found him to be living with another woman. She was a secretary and took great pride in her work. Now she is not even allowed out of her room because of Covid, has limited hand strength and interest in television, and feels that the people who take care of her hate her because they don’t have enough time. Anyone who wants to write a note or letter that I can print out please DM me and I will send you my email and then I can print it out. So far people have been sendingphotos and telling Olga all about their lives and it has been really sweet. Olga does not have a lot of hobbies or interests anymore so if you want to just tell her about your life and say that you heard that she was bored and but you thought you would tell her about your life or a funny story etc. Thanks!! :) her birthday is on January 19th and she will be 96. Please try to write clearly if you send a handwritten letter and take a photo or scan it. Text format is also welcome. You can say that you heard from me (Emily) that she was bored and stuck in her room if you’re having trouble starting the letter. Please also feel free to send a link and we don’t have to bother with the email. Thanks :) I am not sure if she will be able to write to respond as her hands are getting worse but if she really wants to answer anyone she can tell me and I can respond for her.

4 years ago I was 16. I made a post on this subreddit looking for a pen pal. I got a message from somebody named Peter, not from my country. Peter was 20 years old, terminally ill, and had anywhere from 3 months to a year left. He told me that it was okay if I did not want to talk to him because of how heavy it was. Aside from this jarring detail about Peter, he shared a lot of the same interests as me, and we (as it would soon become apparent) were the perfect penpals for each other.

We would talk about our days and our lives in a very factual matter. We’d send pictures of things in our everyday life, like the stray cat that lived on Peter’s street, or the first snowfall of winter in my part of the world. Peter talked about how he didn’t want to tell his friends and family about his illness for fear of being treated differently, so I was the only one he told. As Peter often did, he gave me another out if I wanted it. I did not take it. He talked in depth about his thoughts on life, in relation to his condition.

Peter and I exchanged emails for close to a year. These were long emails, that took each of us hours to write. He shared advice about how valuable life was, and talked about how even though he was sad, he was stable and ready to pass away if it happened. I would tell him stories about failures and successes that must’ve seemed trivial to him, but he was always glad to hear about them and share similar ones from his life.

One day, we made a deal. Peter mentioned that there was a lot of sadness in his past that he didn’t want to burden me with because I was young. I told him that if he emailed them to a different email of mine, that I wouldn’t read them until I graduated college (5 years later). He agreed, and proceeded to send me two very large emails to my other account.

Toward the end of our correspondence, I started to get busy with college applications/auditions and Peter had to sleep more. Peter and I would take longer to write our emails. One afternoon, after I had taken an especially long time to respond, I read an email from Peter and replied to it. Little did I know, this would be the last email that I read from Peter.

Every year since, I have emailed Peter a few times a year, on the off chance that he just didn’t see the other ones, or that he had to be hospitalized but was fine again. Today, I tried one last time to send Peter an email, and I got the Delivery Status (Failure) notification. I was met with panicked emotions that haven’t been truly stirred up in years.

I am now the same age as Peter was when we first started sending each other emails. I have never forgotten Peter’s stories and his words of wisdom about life. I often wish I could send him pictures of my travels, or ask him if he’s met any other interesting people at the bar recently. I want to exchange more movie suggestions with him. I want to tell him that I’m sorry for taking so long to respond that last time. I want to tell him that I still haven’t opened the emails that I promised not to for another 2 years.

On our own, maybe we are curious. Maybe we are optimistic. Maybe we are lonely. Maybe we want a friend. Maybe we just like cool stationery. Together, we are a network of people from all over the world, attempting to connect with each other for whatever reason. Regardless of that reason, everybody you’ve ever talked to and lost touch with is just another person, with an equally complex life, and it didn’t stop once your correspondence did. These communications are real, they are not virtual. Responding to an email or a letter may seem like a very small part of your life, but you may never forget it.

Thank you for reading. There’s no real point to this post; I just wanted to share a story that wouldn’t have unfolded without the existence of this community, and is therefore at least somewhat relevant to you.

Note: If anybody knows anything about the publishing of obituaries in Slovakia, I would be very interested, as I don’t speak Slovak and I haven’t been able to find anything about Peter by googling it. His name is relatively common, but I know his age and illness, so that might be enough to narrow it down. Thank you

Edit: Since so many of you are commenting of being touched by this story, here’s a picture that Peter sent me one time, talking about appreciating the small things http://imgur.com/V3fkuCQ

32/F USA TN here.

I'm an Artist and I'm bored out of my mind. Can't go to my shared studio space and just feeling creatively numb. I would love to send some people handmade postcards, no commitments to send one back unless you would like too ( though ,I would love that). Just Dm your address if your interested and let me know a little about yourself so I can make you something special! So stoked! Will try to send out as many as I can.

This will hopefully push me to "make" more and get the creative juices flowing.

Some things about me : Love love art, nature, video games, History, Science, and cooking. I am a professional Graphic Designer, Artist, and Potter. I kind of get into a lot of different things and am easily excited. I would describe myself as eccentric and thoughtful. Anyway , would I be someone you would want a postcard from?

Edit: Thank you all so much for the awesome responses ! I have around 20 people to send postcards to! However, I am at max for right now. I am so excited to to spread some joy and art to all of you! I will be on here in a few weeks and will for sure do it again 😁🦋

Hi everyone,

COVID-19 is hitting us all hard, but seniors are particularly affected. A lot of seniors who are social distancing feel isolated and cut off from their communities. My sister and I started Letters Against Isolation together, to help fight senior loneliness during these difficult times. We and our volunteers write letters to almost 2000 seniors around the country.

I know you guys appreciate how special letter writing can be, how exciting it feels to open a letter, and how your pen pals make you feel connected to the wider world. To spread some cheer and brighten some seniors' days, please sign up on the yellow get involved form on our website, https://www.lettersagainstisolation.com/

Thank you so much!

While we've gone above and beyond for many years in our efforts to create a safe space for everyone to experience the joy of pen pals, we feel the best way to ensure a greater level of safety for certain Reddit users is by updating our engagement policy.

Moving forward, we will only allow posts, comments and all other engagement by users 18 years of age or older.

It's unfortunate we must restrict access to a historically core part of our users like this, but by doing so, we negate some circumstances in which they can be targeted and therefore reduce their level of risk online.

To those who now find themselves unable to participate here, we strongly encourage you to continue your interest in our hobby by utilizing trusted resources you already know in person: your school, family, place of worship, community youth center, etc.

We thank everyone in advance for their support of this change. As of this post, the new rule is officially in effect. The AutoMod is in the process of being adjusted to remove posts by users who specify a restricted age, but as always we depend on each of you to report posts that violate and/or circumvent community rules. Other questions and concerns are to be directed to modmail only.

Thank you and stay safe.

-The r/penpals Moderation Team

Hopefully this is allowed, but I would like to ask all US members to send a letter to their local congressmen or senate members (or both) about how much you support and need the USPS. If we can flood them with snail mail I think it'll encourage funding. Plus it's an excuse to buy a stamp. Heck, even a postcard with "save the usps" on it. Or glitter bombs. Maybe not that far, but be creative. Heck send the same letter in triplicate, send it once a week. Make up a poem. If you're not sure why this is a big deal I suggest watching John Olivers segment on the USPS and all they do for us. Plus I like penpals and it'll be very hard to continue that with Amazon or FedEx. Thanks for reading, and comment if you have a creative suggestion on what to mail to your senator or congressperson! (Nothing vulgar please)

Greetings! I created this Reddit account with the sole intention of finding pen-friends for my granny! She is a very determined lady, and is in great physical health for her age. She graduated from her BA degree way back in 1962, and was married at the age of 20. My Dada (Gujarati for grandpa), who is a man of great foresight, assisted my Dadi (Gujarati for granny) with her higher education, at a time when women in Indian society were greatly oppressed. He helped her with her coursework, and they often stayed up late at night, learning together. Dadi graduated from her MA degree (in the language of Gujarati) with the highest marks in the University in 1965! She was felicitated with a gold medal by the then President of India, and my grandpa recollects the moment with great pride everyday! Dadi began her teaching career as a lecturer and she gradually progressed to the post of the Principal of a Women's University at Mumbai at the time of her retirement 17 years ago. She is very eloquent in the language of Gujarati, and has been writing to friends and family for the last 50 years. However, she has never written to any international friend, and wishes to change that. Her letters will be written in Gujarati, and I am more than willing to mail them with an accompanying translation, if you so wish (although I must confess that since I'm not a native English speaker, some meaning may be lost in translation). She just said to me that for her first letter, she will make an earnest attempt to educate her pen-friend(s) about Jainism. If anyone is interested, please leave me a message! Please note that she is NOT looking for ANY online correspondence. EDIT: My granny expresses her deepest gratitude to everyone who took the time to contact us! We've received a sizeable number of requests already, and we hope to send out letters to everyone who messaged/texted us, in a few days! We are not accepting any more requests at the moment.

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/mom-asks-reddit-send-cards-sons-2nd-birthday-70242222

You’re all the best, seriously!

Now our towns tiny post office is getting in on the fun!

Each day our lovely fabulous mail couriers deliver Harrisons cards to him personally. They both absolutely love it!

This weekends thank yous go out to...

-u/brosarioo from Boston, thank you for you and your doggos birthday wishes! -Laura from Buffalo NY, we love your birthday cake card as much as actual cake! -Cathy and Steve from Indiana for your kinda words and card! -The Stalters from Altoona Pennsylvania, we love puppies! Your card is so cute!

I’m going to update this post once we get the mail today! Don’t want to flood you all with so many thank you posts! Ha

Editing to add:

-u/-lemon_drop- your hand drawn card is beautiful! Whale sharks are or favorite too! We’ve actually swam with them at the aquarium before! ALSO, when I saw your return address I had to do a double take! I’m a Gainesville native! My parents live in Countryside RIGHT next to you on 39th! Haaaaay neighbor! -Matt and Madison from LA, the minions card hasn’t stopped singing! He keeps opening and closing it. I hope the battery wears out soon! Haha! -Heather from CA, the card is so cute, and we love the stickers! -Reagan from Texas, we love kittens too! Harrison’s favorite color is red, at least I think it’s red. He always eats his red MMs first. -Crystal and Max, we agree. Carole did it. Haha

Hi everyone,

About 5 years ago, I posted on this sub asking if anyone might want to be my grandma's penpal. I received so many lovely responses, and my grandma was so excited to have some new people to talk to. A very big thanks to those of you who sent beautiful letters back and forth with my grandma.

If you were one of the people sending letters, you may wonder why you stopped getting replies from her. After a while, her alzheimers progressed and she began forgetting to write responses, losing letters altogether. I have kept a few and plan to formally write back to update the kind people who reached out.

My grandma is currently entering the final stages of dementia and is not altogether existing on the same plane of reality as the rest of us, which is hard to watch. I just wanted to thank the members of this community for bringing some brightness and some joy to her days, it truly was appreciated.

i just got a letter from my penpals parents saying that their son (my penpal) passed away unexpectedly, he was quite young. they included their address on the envelope.

i feel like i want to send them the letters he wrote, or is that too personal? should i do something else? anyone who has been in the same situation? did you do anything? i would love to hear your thoughts about the subject, cause it has never happened to me before.

it really shocked me to receive the letter, cause it was so unexpected.

In 2019 I decided to look for some penpals on here. I chose one guy to write because we had a couple of common interests. He only sent me two letters before stopping. I wondered if anything bad happened to him so I ended up googling his name.

I was shocked to see that he had been arrested for purchasing firearms, body armor and ammo for a friend that later committed a mass shooting that you most likely read about in the news. 9 people dead.

I’m sure my penpal would not have done anything to hurt me, however, I can’t deny that I felt uncomfortable with the fact that he had my address since I was 19, a woman, and living alone at the time. Luckily, I no longer live anywhere near there.

Moral of the story is, PLEASE be careful who you give your info to. I mean, I know that’s obvious but please please do your research on who you are giving your personal information to.

I met the most amazing person May 2021 here in reddit penpals. We had almost the same interests and hobbies. Weirdly we had the same issues with our past relationships. We instantly clicked. It’s like meeting another version of you. We exchanged emails for months. Until he asked if I would be comfortable to move our conversation so we can talk anytime. I emailed back my no so we can talk. I waited. But that was the last I heard from him. I tried searching him with the little information i know of him but theres too many matched and no one looks like him. It was hard to move on. For the first time somebody can completely relate and understand every struggle, every pain. He was like an older brother to me. It’s been a yr since we have met and I decided to search him again. This time I saw him.. an obituary post. He died a few days after his last email to me. I... It’s just so difficult that I had to share it to someone. Thank you for taking time reading our story.

Wherever you are Bradley, I’m thankful for all the time we spent writing long emails and attaching random photos of our everyday life. Thank you for helping me get through what i was going through. Thank you.

I will DM with proof for anyone who wants to see it/ but I would not pen pal with "Jeremy" his username is u/nihilist_cyclist

Essentially, he mailed me a letter just to tell me that he didn't trust me and thought I was part of the problem in America because I reside in Indiana and then wanted to form a conversation on what type of person I am and am I a part of the problem and how different people would resolve conflict. Granted, why would someone waste paper ink, postage on such a negative nasty letter all because I live in Indiana. Like I said I have receipts for anyone who wants to see. I just want others to be cautious because this took a little of the magic out of it for me. Very discouraging to be judged based on where you live. Without even one proper chance to get to know the other person.

I get it. Life happens. We’re in unprecedented times. Life flips on a whim. Some people didn’t have to work for weeks and now they’re back, some people have school, and some people just get bored.

But the reality is, each one of use is a human being on the other end of a username, and unfortunately we have emotions. And those emotions are not often great.

Some people post here because they’re desperate for human interaction, and I was one of those people. I’ve written every single person that swapped info with me. 25 people, and 3 wrote back, then 1, then None.

This isn’t some big exposé, but just a gentle reminder that: for a lot of people a simple letter in the mail can change their mood, brighten their day, and be something they genuinely look forward to. Be kind. If you’re bored, write back and say that you’re no longer interested but enjoyed your time. If you’re busy, tell them. If you don’t think you click as friends, let them know!

But Ghosting has become so prevalent in every part of society that it’s expected these days, and it’s sad. I’m guilty of it as well. Maybe we can all do a little better.

I am a 2020 graduate from a Food Science Master's program from University of Illinois. Today was meant to be the day I walked with many of my classmates across the stage to receive a diploma, that moment where you relish all the hard work, grit, stress, tears, exams, papers, etc of the past years.

Well to nobody's surprise, this won't be happening.

I want to borrow an idea from my undergraduate college, Macalester. They've asked any of us who enjoys writing with others to send letters, words of inspiration, or anything to our class of 2020. While no one can be there physically, it doesn't change how proud people are of you. But it also doesn't lessen any stressors or fears you may have about the future.

I'd like to extend my hand (6 feet away) to anyone high school, college, university who is graduating this year and needs a place to vent, needs some outside congratulations, or needs a correspondence to get them through this time.

The only things I ask - snail mail only please (it feels more thoughtful and personal to me) and let me know if you'd like a one and done congratulations letter or more!

Not sure how to how to explain who he is without saying too much. He was doing a fantastic job at getting healthy, loved old country music and drove truck for a living. He hiked on occasion and knew how to find great little diners. He knew a family of raccoons who were adorable and I always loved seeing. He did as working in a red motorcycle and had adorable dogs that never helped when he was trying to work on it. I’m hoping he frequents this sub or someone who does recognizes his description and passes along the info. J- I miss our talks and I’m soooooo sorry! It’s totally my fault and there’s been so many times I wanted to tell you about my day and hear about yours. Message me any time day or night.

But no pun in ten did. xD

Okay, okay, I get it. This isn't r/jokes. But hey, it's good to lighten up a tad. Laugh a little; the news outside isn't the most glorious these days anyway. :)

Quite honestly, mentioning how cliché it is to list down one's hobbies and interests here, is becoming a cliché in itself. But that's alright, I guess. To each their own. :)

I personally do like to give a glimpse of who I am, what I like, and don't. Worry not, I'm not about to sell myself out with an (un)impressive 2-page resumé-esque advertisement of myself. And I promise to keep it concise.

My strengths might not lie in wit or eloquence, but I know how to be a friend. It's difficult for me to not worry, when you're having a rough day. But I can listen to you and be there when you need me. I can laugh at the silliest jokes you crack, and can even set your sorry arse right if you try crossing the boundaries of decency. :P

As for interests, I like a good read, a good song, a good deed, a good run, a good pun, sunsets, Lightroom presets, and so much more that I could've added but chose not to, since it didn't rhyme.

Im not picky when it comes to people. At least I think I'm not. But I am cautious. So if you do decide to hit me up, I probably won't switch to the "let's be penpals!" zone immediately. Why? You and I both need to gage whether we can actually stand the other at all, let alone considering a penpal-ship etched in the clouds forever (lol). In all seriousness though, it IS the internet. And a young, 24 y/o Indian gal can't be too careful, can she? (Cue - she can't.)

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

I'm into reading. I'm a shy poet. Love watching movies. I'm very passionate about music and love singing songs. I'm a bad singer. Doesn't make me stop. I'm cheerful in life but most of my writing automatically tends to be about loss and sorrow. I guess pain comes to us easily? Happiness is hard work.

I'd love the snail mail. I love hand written notes and letters. But due to the earth being closed, I'm guessing we'll have to initially go with emails. Or of you too have mastered the art of Telepathy, then that.

Would just love different world's connected together to build a beautiful connection.

Hello everyone!

Unfortunately we had to cancel our sons second birthday trip. We were planning a fun filled week at the Atlanta aquarium, Atlanta Zoo, and Atlanta Childrens museum. Everything is closed, and even if it wasn’t we still probably wouldn’t risk it. He understands we’re not going anymore, but doesn’t really understand why. Breaks my heart.

One of the highlights of his day is our walk to the mailbox. All our junk mail is “his mail” and he loves opening it.

I’m reaching out, requesting some birthday cards or birthday letters for my little man.

His name is Harrison and he will be 2 years old on May the 4th. He loves him some baby shark and peppa pig!

Please send me a DM, and I’ll pass along our address to you! Thanks to everyone!

*editing to add, we’re located in the United States is that makes a difference!