The Pen-Pal Tribe / Die Brieffreundschafts- Stamm
I’ve been thinking a lot about memory, recently. I wish that mine was better (much better); that one day I’ll instantly remember all memories we shared when we were young. On May 2013, I remember the Facebook message you sent me. Seeing a older, dim-lit Facebook photo of you wasn’t too helpful in sparking my memory of our childhood friendship. I opened the message and remember you sent me something along the lines of…
M: “hello, do you remember me?” / M: “Hallo, erinnern Sie mich?”
I can remember the awful feeling that I should’ve known who you were, but I just didn’t. I remember hesitating to respond, so I asked my mom if she knew you. Of course, she did, and my mom told me that you and I were close friends when we were four years old. She went on and on about our playdates, what we would do, and how close our families were before you moved to your hometown of Langquaid, Germany. Feeling even more ashamed that I wasn’t able to recollect our times together, I knew I had to message you. So, I replied.
D: “yes, of course! hello!!!” / D: “Ja, natürlich! Hallo!!!”
(when you don’t remember, at least pretend and try your best, right?)
I’m glad we rekindled our relationship through constant messaging (thanks Facebook - now WhatsApp), but also using snail-mail. As time went on, we grew closer and told eachother everything – from our likes/dislikes, future plans, and what we did each day. We kept dreaming that one day we’d get to visit each other, either in Michigan or Germany. It was always more of a dream for me because you had visited USA way more than I have Europe. Each letter you sent me from family vacations or school trips meant the world to me. It wasn’t a simple letter anymore; it was meaningful and sincere. It held an irreplaceable value. Even when you wrote simple words of, “I wish you could be here too!”, my heart glowed. I appreciate the letters we’ve sent to each other, but I value our friendship and continuous tribe of messaging even more. What makes me respect you more and more is that you work so hard, communicating with me in English. Whenever you ask me if your grammar is right, it's always a yes, so I just smile. Nothing can defeat our tribe! Wherever you went, you always carried our overseas relationship with you–sending me postcards from Italy, Berlin, and Langquaid. You made the first step to revive our childhood friendship and for that, I couldn’t be more thankful.
I clearly remember the first time we met after twelve years. It was August 21, 2014. After more than a year of messaging through handfuls of letters, postcards, and texts, you and your family showed up at my doorstep. Both nervous and elated at the same time, we finally were together again. I’m glad I can cherish a friendship like ours that no matter the distance, we still keep in touch every day. I really hope that one day I’ll be able to travel to Germany, but as for now, I hold on to all the memories that we’ve made, even if I can’t remember them all. We are the small, but everlasting tribe of penpals. Wir sind die kleinen , aber ewig Stamm Brieffreunde.