It began with 98 year old Robert Ford, who lives alone in Kansas. His wish was to receive some Christmas cards. In response to this simple request, his is daughter-in-law sent out a mass email to friends and family. Mr. Ford received 110 cards from the first-graders of Summerville Elementary School in Summerville, GA! Thrilled by these children’s cards, Mr. Ford wanted to do something nice for the them. The teacher, Laura Gamble, asked him to write a story about his life and their official “Pen Pal” relationship was born. Mr. Ford continues to send them stories that Ms. Gamble reads outloud to her students and the children respond in kind. It seems to me that everyone is benefitting from this arrangement. How nice for the children to be connected to someone who can not only teach them a little about history, remind them that written communication has a strong place in this electronic world of ours, and that “old people” are to be appreciated.
