I have a pen pal. Her name is Alice Congdon. Alice is the youngest member of the wonderful Congdon clan. This amazing family is made up of Kevin, Megan, Jake, Henry and Miss Alice. I met this wonderful and caring family when Jake and Henry were outstanding student athletes at Northern Chautauqua Catholic School. Miss Alice was often a visitor at NCCS. More times than not, when Alice visited NCCS, we would end up reading a book together in my office.

When my cancer diagnosis forced me to leave NCCS , the Congdons stayed in close contact. They sent me cards, letters and treats. They shared their experiences with me to help keep my spirits up. We used cell phones so that I could continue to read with Miss Alice. I didn’t FaceTime. I didn’t want to scare Alice by having her see me with no hair and looking all skin and bones.

The boys have gone Bald for Bucks in my honor. I have been so touched by the outpouring of care, concern and love from this family and so many other members of the family called Northern Chautauqua Catholic School. I can’t thank Monarch Nation enough for all the they have done for me as I have battled leukemia for the last two years. Being the principal at NCCS was one of the best things to ever happen to me.

Alice sent me a Valentine’s Day card in February. I get a little bummed around school holidays and celebrations. I used to receives scores of Valentines from kids and lots and lots of treats. I have wonderful memories from my career of days like Valentine’s Day. Not regularly being around children these days can make me a little melancholy. I was thrilled to get a card from Alice on February 14th. I sent her a thank you note to let her know how much her card meant to me. I wasn’t at all surprised when Alice wrote back to me. But I was surprised when Miss Alice asked me to be her Pen Pal. We have been Penning for a few weeks now.

The history of Pen Pals or Pen Friends dates back to the early 1900s.

Pen Friending was used as a way to promote international friendship and language learning.

The term Pen Friends first came into use around 1919.

Pen Pal was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1931. The Student Letter Exchange was an organization founded in 1936 and was one of the first services designed to help people find Pen Pals. During World War II Pen Palling grew significantly as it was used to boost the morale of soldiers far from home. Magazines and newspapers dedicated articles and columns to helping people find Pen Pals. This practice continued well into the 1950s. Even royalty and famous people had Pen Pals. On more than one occasion Pen Friends became Pen Lovers, got married and lived happily ever after. Could that be where the idea for Tinder came from?

My brother and I briefly had Pen Pals in the early 1970s. Our Pen Friendships were short lived. We got a little suspicious when the Pals we had quickly started asking us to send them money. They stopped writing when my brother and I didn’t send cash.

In this day and age of instant communication with Facebook, texting and emailing, I don’t suppose that many people still Pen Pal the old fashioned way, using hand written letters sent through the U.S. mail. Perhaps if there were modern day Pen Pals, some of the world’s hatred, violence and war could be eliminated. It would be much harder for world leaders to marginalize, dehumanize and bomb the people of other nations if their own citizenship had Pen Friends living in these countries.

I am honored to be Alice Congdon’s Pen Pal. It is so much fun. I hope our Pen Friendship continues for a very long time. I hope that we are old school Pen Pals at least until Miss Alice gets a cell phone and/or a computer. Write back soon Pen Pal.Deleted

Andrew Ludwig is a retired math teacher and a retired public school and Catholic school administrator. He currently works as a substitute teacher in Chautauqua County.