Women who have remained pen pals since elementary school finally meet in person – 40 years later

• Two women who were set up as pen pals for a fifth grade school project aged 10 have finally met in person, more than 40 years later 
• Haley Briggs, from Douglassville, Pennsylvania and Krystel Alston, from Ontario, California , continued to write to each other throughout their lives
• Earlier this month the pair, both now 53, met in Pennsylvania for the first time as Briggs does not fly

Two women who were set up as pen pals for a fifth grade school project at age 10 have finally met in person, more than 40 years later. 

Haley Briggs, from Douglassville, Pennsylvania and Krystel Alston, from Ontario, California, continued to write to each other throughout their lives.

After finally agreeing to meet to celebrate their 50th birthdays in 2020, the happy occasion was delayed due to the pandemic lockdowns.

However, earlier this month the pair, both now 53, met in Pennsylvania for the first time as Briggs does not fly. 

The pair brought some of their decades-old letters to show each other and reminisced during the emotional meet-up. 

Two women who were set up as pen pals for a fifth grade school project aged 10 have finally met in person, more than 40 years later

Haley Briggs (left), from Douglassville, Pennsylvania and Krystel Alston (right), from Ontario, California, continued to write to each other throughout their lives

The pair brought some of their decades-old letters to show each other and reminisced during the emotional meet-up

‘Dear Haley, do you have a best friend?’ one letter asked.

While another asked Krystel ‘does it snow where you are?’ 

The pair went out for dinner and said they will continue to stay in contact and remain in each other’s lives. 

‘We definitely gain something from it’ Alston explained, ‘to give something to this other person’

‘That’s hard to come by these days’ Briggs added.  

After many years of exchanged letters the pair moved from paper to social media, where they could send each other pictures and chat about their lives more frequently.

Although there were sometimes gaps in communication over the years the women never fell out of touch. 

‘We wrote by-hand letters for a long time,’ Briggs told ABC News. 

Although there were sometimes gaps in communication over the years the women never fell out of touch

The pair went out for dinner and said they will continue to stay in contact and remain in each other’s lives

‘I think we thought about each other, you know, whether we were in contact or not’ she said.

Adding: ‘I got married, had a son, my mom passed. She lost her father, then Facebook came to be and that’s when it went digital.’ 

‘We were from two different schools, two different states on different sides of the country and we’re still friends 43 years later. The only difference is we’ve been in the same place at the same time’ Alston said. 

Adding: ‘We always stayed in touch in some way.’  

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