The Pleasure of Snail Mail

Twenty-two years ago, I decided to answer an ad in a magazine for a pen pal in Australia. At the time I wrote a letter to Nicole, but it was not she who answered my letter.  Instead, it was a girl named, Emma, who snagged my letter out of a batch of letters Nicole received.  We began as many pen friends do, writing letters, postcards, sending pictures and smaller currency of our country's money (small coins and small dollar notes).  As time progressed, we began exchanging food.  For instance I recall her seeing an episode of Oprah where she had discussed her love of Doritos, but at the time Doritos were not available in Australia (instead they have CC chips, which are just as scrumptious). So I got the mini bags and mailed a few of those with some Kool-Aid packets. In exchange, she sent me Freddo frogs (imagine Harry Potter chocolate frogs, these are Cadbury Australia's chocolate little gems), the infamous Vegemite (food paste made from yeast extract) and "musk" flavored Lifesavers (YES, I said, Musk flavored, yes, like the fragrance of cologne musk, I know, I know, it was bizarre).  We shared our love of music and countless mixed tapes of us being silly with our friends, or just emceeing music compilation tapes.  One of my all time favorites is when a group of her friends sang an acapella version of Guns N Roses' Patience; one because it was just an amazing rendition, and secondly because my dear pal Emma was making really cool sound effects, if I could spell it out this is how it would be "Knock-taahhhhh, duhhh" (but you really had to hear it). Can't you tell we both have a twisted sense of humor?  We discovered we both loved Star Wars, Eddie Vedder & Pearl Jam, and Live. Which only led to more amazing jokes and fun in our letters and tapes. She introduced me to the Australian band, Silverchair and American band Buffalo Tom (which has since become a top favorite of mine, too).

So by the time I was nearing the end of high school, as my other friends were busy checking out colleges or figuring out what other jobs they were going to pursue, I had gotten in my head that I was going to go to work and save as much money as I could and go to Australia and meet this pen pal I had been writing for four years.  My thoughts then, were I did not have the money for college and my family did not have the means to help me through the expense of college, so why not travel now.  I mean most people dream of travelling for years, get bogged down by college and with starting families and have debt that keeps them from travelling until they retire.  I wanted to meet Emma and see this great country before I retired.  I did just that.  As you can well imagine Emma and her beautiful family showed me Western Australia and all of its beautiful delights and hidden treasures (Margaret River isn't much of a secret anymore, but it is still a glorious place- with so many spectacular views and amazing wines).  Emma and I had a grand time running amuck, sunbathing and jumping waves at the beaches, and enjoying a pint or two of Victoria Bitter (because let's be honest Americans think they are "acting like a cool Aussie" drinking Foster's by the "barbie", truth is VB is the stuff). I have had the pleasure of going to Australia not only once, but twice. The second trip, included a side trip of Emma and I lodging at a bed and breakfast in London and traipsing along the English countryside. So as you can see, what started off as two young teenagers writing each other for fun, turned into a lifelong friendship.  We continue to share our favorite things, recipes, books, blogs, but now we also have the added pleasure of sharing the stories of being wives and the adventures of motherhood.  Recently, Emma shared with me that she is going back to school (Uni) to get her Bacherlors of Education and so I thought what a perfect time to share our story.  She is an amazing woman, friend, wife and mother, I know she will excel at her studies.  And how could she not when her kids are cheering her on with so much enthusiasm and support when her books for Uni recently arrived they shouted with excitement, "Mum's books are here everyone! Lets look at them!"  Here is my down to earth Q & A with her, that shows our sense of humor and how we have managed to stay such good friends over the years.

Question & Answer with Emma Reid:

Q-Did you ever think that when you responded to my pen pal letter, that we would still be writing each other 22 years later?
 

Emma-No definitely not. Most of my friends at school who also had penfriends had the friendship fizzle out within a few letters.

 

Q-Had you ever heard of Delaware prior to writing me? (if my memory serves I thought you saw it on Roseanne?)

 

Emma-Yes I had heard of Delaware, but couldn't pin point where it was on the US map at the time. I think I also recalled a reference to it from Wayne's World.
 

Q-What is your favorite book of all time? Are you reading anything currently that you would recommend to others and why?

Emma-To Kill a Mockingbird. I love the ease of the way Harper Lee addresses terrible racial issues against the back drop of Jem and Scout's childhood; gives the awful issues woven into the story more impact on the reader.

 

I have just finished two books by Sara Foster, Come Back to Me and Beneath the Shadows, I would definitely recommend them she is a clever writer who has a knack for writing books the reader just can't put down.
 

Q-What is your favorite recipe to cook?

 

Emma-Chicken, Leek and white wine casserole. (***If you are interested in this recipe check out the post Chicken, Leek and White Wine Casserole***)

Q-When you were told that you were pregnant with twins the first go around, what was your first reaction? (I recall us joking long before either of us were married about how it would be having multiples, so when you first told me you were expecting twins, I seriously thought you were joking).

Emma-I just laughed. I thought it was insane news. I made up my mind to be positive about it because there were so many people with negative responses and I wasn't going to "have that". So many people can't have children, who was I to complain about getting two at once?
 

Q-You are a mega Star Wars fan, which would you say ranks as the #1 episode? If you could play one character in Star Wars who would it be?

Emma-I can't go past A New Hope. If I was in SW I think I would be Wicket so I could live in the Ewok Village at Endor. It looks so nice. Plus I would like to play the drums on the Stormtrooper helmets with them sometime.
 

Q-I have visited you twice in Australia, and upon the ending of the second visit, you and I took a trip to England, if you could meet me there for a girl's weekend, what would you like to see again? or what would you like to see that we didn't get to see?

Emma-I would like to go to Bath again and I would definitely do a Dr Who experience tour there (well we didn't get to see it because it didn't exist at the time :)
 

Q-Did any of my reactions to Australia surprise or shock you?

Emma-No not really. I wondered how you liked having midges fly at your ass in the drop toilets though LOL. Do you even have drop toilets in the US? How gross are they.

(***Side note-Yes. We have midgee flies here in the states (like pesky gnats).  And yes, we also have drop toilets (aka pit toilets, Porto potty)...these were more like pit toilets***)
 

Q-You are a mother of four and recently just enrolled in Uni to start your Bachelor of Education? What is your biggest concern with taking classes and managing a household?

Emma-Ha! ha! the house falling apart! I think it's working my way to finding quiet time, which is available it's just that I'd rather lay on my couch with a glass of wine and a good book and will have to discipline myself to work hard to pass my course and get a degree. Oh plus failing exams and so forth. I think that's a natural thing (fear of failure)

 

Q-On my first trip to Australia, I made the mistake after having a few drinks of calling your dad a "wanker", describe how this has become a favorite family story for your sister to share?

Emma-It's just too funny. I think it's the shock value. We were all sitting around, Dad walks past and all of a sudden you burst out with "GARRY YOU WANKER!" from out of the blue. He even thinks it's funny. I think only you could get away with such a thing with my Dad, but it's because he thinks you are funny. That is the same reason my sister thinks it's funny too.
 

Q-What is the movie that Henry Thomas (the boy from E.T) did that was filmed in Australia?What significance does it have to Aboriginal culture?

Emma-Frog Dreaming. I am not that sure if it has significance for them because I think most of the mythology was made up for the movie. I think the refs to "old Aboriginal burial grounds" would have been offensive to them and I don't think if the movie was made in today's politically sensitive arena, they would have been allowed to make references like that within the script. I think the fact that Aboriginals were shown fishing and living off the land would have been huge for them, as in being depicted at all.

 

 

Q-If you had the opportunity to come to America to visit, and see any of its' sites, which do you think you would like the most?

Emma-There is a lot of history there to explore. I think the House of the Seven Gables. The Lincoln Memorial. I think any of the large museums in the US would be amazing. We just don't have the length of history that the US does here.

Anything to do with the Salem Witch Trials...I am more into history and facts than things like Disney Land (although I would love to see that of course). Ernest Hemingway's house and also Robert the Doll in Florida. I would like to go to Graceland too but I would find it all a bit creepy also. There is just something about Elvis I find really scary.

 

 

Q-If you could have dinner with either the members of Pearl Jam or the members of Buffalo Tom, which would you pick?

Emma-Pearl Jam. I think that's mainly because EDVED loves the far South West of WA and has enjoyed surfing down there and the South West is one of my favourite places on earth (Well I live in the South West, just not the far South West)

 

Q-Do you think George Lucas will ever admit that he created Jabba the Hut while going to the toilet?

Emma-No. I don't think he wants people to know he stares admiringly at his poo and creates characters in his mind from the shapes of it. I also believe he is turning into Jabba, look closely.
(***Side note-this is all in fun, just to show our twisted sense of humor***)

 

Q-Describe one thing about becoming a mom that you did not anticipate? (for instance, Kyle describes the fact that he thought he would love being a dad and love his son, but didn't realize that his son would take ownership of him so early on and love him back).

 

Emma-I didn't anticipate being so tired all the time. I also didn't imagine being vomited, urinated and pooped on.
 

Q-What do you think has enabled us to continue our friendship over the past 22 years and thousands of miles?

I think we really just gelled from the minute we actually met in person. We were comfortable with each other and have similar senses of humour and understanding of things. Similar family back grounds.
 

Q-What is your favorite hot tea to drink?

 

Emma-At the moment I am into Dilmah. Not sure if it's because I love the accent of the Indian man in the commercial saying "DILMAH...do try it" or the tea.
 

Q-As a busy mom, what do you do to make time for yourself? And if you could have one day of leisure, where you could do anything you wanted what would you do?

 

Emma-If I had one day of leisure I would sit in a deck chair all day and have a lychee Martini. When the kids are at school, they go to bed around 8.30 so I have an hour or two (providing they don't come out of bed feigning illness, thirst or a sudden need for an apple). I usually either watch something on TV or read. Sometimes the TV is going and I will just sit there relaxing not actually watching it.

 

Q-How would you describe a quality date time with your husband?

Emma-We try and book into Mindarie Marina hotel if we have enough money for that, have a few beers and tapas at the Indi. If we can't afford that we try and nip out for a coffee together and a walk on the beach. Even window shopping is fun.

So you see what started off as two girls living on the opposite ends of the world, and writing each other snail mail letters, has become a lifelong friendship. We now mostly correspond through email, anyone who has seen me during one of my daily email writing sessions, often responds, "Who are you writing a novel to?" And then I think they must wonder how we have so much to say to one another, but I know I speak for both of us, when I say that we really feel sisters.  We are always there supporting each other, and listening to each other.  I only hope that others can find the kind of friendship we have with someone in their lifetime.  We are truly blessed to have found each other, and are very thankful for it!