We sat down with Vivien on her patio to chat about her trip to the UK to visit the pen pal she’s been writing with for almost 70 years! Not only does she share about their friendship and her trip, but she gives a great tip on how to be a good friend for the long-haul.
Vivien Henderson. I moved in on October of 2023, end of October, and I’ve been here ever since. I went to Thirsk, England via Vancouver, Amsterdam, and Leeds to visit my pen pal.
Francis and I have been writing together since we were 10. Grade five English program. Mostly we just wrote about what was going on in our daily lives back then. Over the years, we wrote every month. We get a letter from each other at least once, twice a month. We always sent Christmas presents up until Covid and then we all got on the internet. So now it’s all Facebook or Messenger.
In 2001, I went over for the first time. We were both in our 50s. I was doing a one-month tour of England because I was going to trace my family tree, and I thought, well, I’m in England. I got to spend some time with Francis. Well, you get off the train. You got to go up a flight of steps to where the train comes in or down the flight of steps. And I got to the top of the steps, and she was coming up the steps, and we recognized each other right away. We screamed our names. Her husband said, “How the hell can you recognize somebody you’ve never seen in your life?” And this time it was a relaxing holiday.
I went to enjoy her company and relax. And that’s what we did mostly. You just, you can’t judge them, you know, if they have some idiosyncrasy you don’t like. You can’t say, “Well, I’m not talking to her anymore or him anymore, whatever it is.” just for that reason, right? You got to be open and treat them like family, right?
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