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After 5 years of friendship, they're ready to finally meet
E-pals connected when a message went astray
JOE DEPRIEST
IN MY OPINION
Millie Starnes was 17 when she got the e-mail.
The message began: "Hey! How ya doing? Has it been warm there? Here too."
Starnes kept reading: "Cliff's brother came from Maryland and he's been helping me with the projects I can't do alone."
The e-mail rambled on about Harriet and Esther and Tubby, who was "doing great in a nursing home."
"Are you having fun with the computer?" the writer asked. "Marv has added a bunch of stuff to mine. I didn't understand a word he told me, but it makes my screen very impressive. Catch ya later. Love, Bonnie."
Nice e-mail. But Starnes, who lived in Maiden, had no idea who these people were. She kicked it back to the sender.
And that's how she became pen pals with an older woman on a farm in South Dakota.
Nearly six years later, Starnes, 22, is on her way to see Bonnie Bertsch, 78, who lives near Brookings, S.D. They've never met or even spoken on the phone. E-mail and regular mail have been their only means of communication.
Friends of mine who go to Starnes' church, First Presbyterian in Lincolnton, told me about her trip.
I was curious about how a friendship developed between a young art teacher at Granite Falls Elementary School and a senior citizen in South Dakota.
In a day of crazy Internet scams, you never know who is on the other end of an e-mail. Picking up a friend in cyberspace is like picking up a hitchhiker. It could spell trouble.
But Starnes feels comfortable about the trip. She and Bertsch have gotten to know each other. They've shared humorous times and times of family crisis, including the death of Bertsch's husband.
The first e-mail was a fluke. But it put two people in touch at the right moment in time. . . . (read more)
Go State!
After 5 years of friendship, they're ready to finally meet
E-pals connected when a message went astray
JOE DEPRIEST
IN MY OPINION
Millie Starnes was 17 when she got the e-mail.
The message began: "Hey! How ya doing? Has it been warm there? Here too."
Starnes kept reading: "Cliff's brother came from Maryland and he's been helping me with the projects I can't do alone."
The e-mail rambled on about Harriet and Esther and Tubby, who was "doing great in a nursing home."
"Are you having fun with the computer?" the writer asked. "Marv has added a bunch of stuff to mine. I didn't understand a word he told me, but it makes my screen very impressive. Catch ya later. Love, Bonnie."
Nice e-mail. But Starnes, who lived in Maiden, had no idea who these people were. She kicked it back to the sender.
And that's how she became pen pals with an older woman on a farm in South Dakota.
Nearly six years later, Starnes, 22, is on her way to see Bonnie Bertsch, 78, who lives near Brookings, S.D. They've never met or even spoken on the phone. E-mail and regular mail have been their only means of communication.
Friends of mine who go to Starnes' church, First Presbyterian in Lincolnton, told me about her trip.
I was curious about how a friendship developed between a young art teacher at Granite Falls Elementary School and a senior citizen in South Dakota.
In a day of crazy Internet scams, you never know who is on the other end of an e-mail. Picking up a friend in cyberspace is like picking up a hitchhiker. It could spell trouble.
But Starnes feels comfortable about the trip. She and Bertsch have gotten to know each other. They've shared humorous times and times of family crisis, including the death of Bertsch's husband.
The first e-mail was a fluke. But it put two people in touch at the right moment in time. . . . (read more)
Go State!