Sheree Gable met Melissa Forbes because she ticked a box.
Thirty years later, they’re still a part of each other’s lives.
As pen pals.
And even in this age of email, Facebook and Snapchat, their relationship endures largely in light blue airmail envelopes containing handwritten or typed letters.
It all started in 1987, when Gable, who lived in Burnaby, was assigned to correspond with someone in French as part of a school assignment. Her entire class signed up for a pen pal service out of Finland that connected wannabe letter-writers with others around the world.
As part of the questionnaire to determine her interests and find a suitable correspondent, Gable ticked a box at the bottom of the form that she would sign on as a prospective pen pal herself. She forgot all about it until, out of the blue, an envelope arrived in her mailbox from Sydney, Australia.
Forbes introduced herself as a 16-year-old girl with freckles and red hair who listened to INXS, Crowded House and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and was curious to learn more about Canada.
“I guess I was just intrigued,” said Gable, who penned a reply that eventually blossomed to an annual exchange of two or three letters, plus cards and little gifts for special occasions like Christmas and birthdays.
The two women have met in person three times, first in 1994, when Gable travelled to Australia for a three-month backpacking wander around that country and southeast Asia.
In 1999, Forbes came to Canada for Gable's wedding. And two years ago, the Aussie launched her own exploration across Canada starting at Gable’s Port Coquitlam home.
While the two now touch base by email or Facebook, their main method of communication remains snail mail when they’re able to catch up on what’s transpired in their lives in the previous months.
Forbes writes her letters longhand, usually while she’s commuting to and from work.
Gable said her handwriting is too messy, so she composes her correspondence on her computer, then prints it out.
She said the slow-motion nature of their decades-long conversation gives them a chance to reflect on the events and circumstances that shape their lives.
“You sort of have to look back and put that entertaining spin on it,” Gable said. “You’ve got to keep coming up with material.”
It also gives her a reason to look forward to the mail’s arrival, aside from the daily barrage of bills and bulk advertising.
“It’s really meant just for you,” Gable said. “It’s for each other’s eyes only.”
Over the years, Gable has saved some of the correspondence she’s received from Forbes in a cardboard box she decorated with stamps back when she was 16 years old. They include the first letter, another composed on cassette tape in 1994, and old newspapers and trinkets from Australia like drink coasters.
“Having a pen pal is pretty unique in this day and age,” Gable said.
Then she picked up her phone to send her Australian friend a message that she’d just been interviewed by the local newspaper.
