SEATTLE, Wash. - After decades of letters and living worlds apart, two international pen pals are finally meeting face-to-face.
Dana and Kathy began writing to one another in the 7th grade, according to KCPQ. On Sunday, they finally met each other after 53 years.
Loneliness prompted 13-year-old Dana to reach out after discovering an ad for a pen pal in an old "Archie" comic book, that was in 1965.
Six months later, the first letter arrived from Kathy, who had responded to a similar ad in an Australian newspaper.
"We just told each other about our families and our interests," Kathy told Q13 News. "I met a boy -- my future husband when I was 17... we all had news about boyfriends and it was great."
"Oh yeah, marriage, kids," added Dana.
And despite the build-up of dust, Dana and Kathy both saved all their old letters, written on special stationery.