will you be my penpal?

i was at my mom and dad's last weekend, and my dad gave me a box of stuff i'd left there years ago. most of the box was file folders of old notes from my first and second year of undergrad. but there was one folder that contained birthday cards and letters that were sent to me - mostly from the summer i turned 17, and spent 8 weeks at a camp. the camp was located some 10 hours north of where i lived, and there were 24 17-year-old guys there for the summer. i corresponded with a number of people while i was there - i have letters from my mom and dad, my younger brother, my sister, (none from my older brother, which is no surprise), my best friend at the time, a girl i liked (but we weren't dating), and a pen pal. the pen pal letter is interesting, and when i read it, i was taken back to the letter i'd written to her previously. one of the senior guys at our camp knew someone at a girls camp near north bay (about 5 hours away), and he got her to send him a list of names of girls at that camp. when he got the list, all the guys at our camp picked a girl's name, and wrote them a letter. most of the guys wrote these horny letters (as most 17 year old guys would probably d0), and they never got a response. i guess i wasn't like most 17 year old guys, because i remember my letter to be more civilized. the letter i found last weekend is the reply to my letter, and it's a long one. the girl i wrote to was about my age, and she was very grateful that i didn't get all pervy with my letter, as she had read other letters sent to the other girls. she talked about herself, and how she would like to meet me one day (even though she mentioned that she had a boyfriend!). i seem to recall that we exchanged letters into the fall, after summer camp had ended, but i only found this initial letter. we never did meet, but it's interesting to find a letter from someone i'd never met. this, of course, predates the internet, but reading the letter kinda felt like i was reading an email from someone i'd met online. the penpal has been replaced by chat and email, apparently!