70-year-long pen pal relationship featured at the Woodstock Museum

Shirley Woodall is waiting for word from her long time friend and pen pal Michiyo (Mickey) Sekido, even though the two have never met or spoken to each other in person.

Instead, the pair has been pen pals for 70 years.

"It started through the Anglican Church girls' auxillarywhere our study that year was all about Japan," said Woodall. "I just asked my leader if there was a possibility I could have a pen pal."

Woodallsaid shesent her first letter in 1947. Getting a response took almost a year and then the pair exchanged five or six letters to each other every yearfrom that point on.

Friendship forged through pen and paper

Woodall was only 17 when the letter writing began.

"I just introduced myself and told her about Canada. She toured Japan and told me all about the cherry blossoms and gathering chestnuts," she said. "It was just ordinary teenage girl talk."

Both went on to get married and the depth of their friendship grew. They wouldconfide in each other and share all the details of their lives.

"We were like sisters," said Woodall.

The two women never met or even spoke on the phone. They did exchange pictures.

"It was just like today, what the young people do on their computers; we just wrote letters," she said.

An empty mailbox

Woodallis concernedshe hasn't heard from Mickey recently. She doesn't even know if her long-time pen pal is still alive. Mickey has suffered health problemsand, after her husband died, she moved in with her sister.

"I sent her a birthday gift and card. If I don't hear anything then I will write to her sister and see if I can find out what happened."

For now, Woodall is excited, if not a little surprised, by the Woodstock Museum's interest in their correspondence.

"I don't know what all the excitement is about," said Woodall. "A lot of people had pen pals. It was jut an ordinary experience as far as I was concerned."

Visitorscan see the exhibit and experience the friendship of these two women at the Woodstock Museum National Historic Site in downtown Woodstockbetween Sept. 7, 2019 and Feb. 17, 2020. Admission is free.