MINNEAPOLIS — Eileen Ocone grew up on a farm in Echo, Minnesota, a town of about 250 people in the southwestern portion of the state.
During her childhood in the 1960s, Eileen's world was small. She'd never left Minnesota or flown on a plane, and she attended the same Echo school starting in elementary school through 12th grade.
But she did have Janis Auidon.
"I thought it was fabulous," Eileen said, "that I had an English pen pal."
Eileen began corresponding with Janis in 1961, when she was in seventh grade, and the two traded letters all throughout high school. Janis lived near Derby, in Central England, and provided Eileen with a rare window into life overseas.
"After we'd been writing for awhile, she said, 'there's this great new group... everybody is wild about them over here. You have to watch them. They're going to be on the Ed Sullivan Show.' It was the Beatles!" Eileen said. "They were just introduced to America. I watched and thought: They're okay."
Together, through this pen pal connection, Eileen and Janis grew from teenagers into young adults. Eileen sent Janis photographs of her prom; Janis sent Eileen photographs of her travels in the Netherlands. Their correspondence lasted about a decade, until they reached their early twenties.
And then the letters stopped.
"I don't know why we quit writing," Eileen said. "I guess we were both getting on with our lives."
Decades passed, and the relationship between Eileen and Janis faded. With families of their own, they lost touch, although the memories always remained.
"I did wonder over the years," Janis said. "Whether she'd gotten married, whether she'd had a family."
Shortly after the new millennium, Janis stopped wondering and started researching.
By the time the pandemic hit in 2020, Janis had become adept at scouring Facebook for old acquaintances. She looked for Eileen's family members on social media, found Eileen's married name, and plugged "Eileen Ocone" into a quick Google search. It came up with an address.
"Dear Eileen," Janis wrote to Eileen in February 2021. "I have been trying for the last 20 years to find my American penfriend of the 60's and 70's and I am hoping it is you."
When the letter arrived at Eileen's home in the Twin Cities, postmarked from England, she felt compelled to respond immediately.
"We have Internet now," Eileen wrote back to Janis. "Why don't you email me!"
The two old friends rekindled their friendship online and met each other for the first time -- virtually -- through video chats.
But they didn't want to stop there.
With travel restrictions eased, Janis booked a week-long trip to Minnesota, arriving Thursday with a mix of excitement and jet-lag. She intentionally chose autumn to see the fall colors and avoid Minnesota's sweltering summers, but of course, a dusting of winter weather greeted her on Friday morning.
"She came for the snow!" Eileen joked.
On Friday, the two old friends visited Mall of America, and this weekend they plan to tour the Minnesota History Center, the National Eagle Center and perhaps even take a drive to the North Shore and Lake Superior.
Janis, who now lives outsider of Leicester, has traveled through America before -- but never the Upper Midwest.
"One of the things that amazes me is the size of the houses, and the yards," Janis said. "The UK, being such a small island -- with 67 million people living in it -- we just have not got the wide open spaces like you've got."
Eileen, meanwhile, is already planning to return the favor with a trip to England as early as next year.
Clearly, it hasn't taken long for these old friends to make up for lost time.
"It was super interesting to have an English pen pal," Eileen said. "Or, as she says, a 'pen friend.'"
"Yeah," Janis said. "Pen friend."
For life.
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