Online Pen Pals

During the holidays, I'm always hearing friends say they feel guilty for not finding time to volunteer. I just found a service that makes it easy to volunteer in your home and at your leisure. "Write a Senior Citizen" connects you with a senior who wants an email pen pal. You can search by keyword, country or birth year.

Here are a few:

Jean from the U.S.

Jean was born on September 30, 1939 in New Orleans, Louisiana and now lives in Saucier, Mississippi. Her favorite book is Vanishing Point and her favorite food is oyster poor boy. Hardi is her favorite movie and her dearest memory is of when she earned her license for hairdressing.

Jean has three children, five grandchildren and a dog. Her hobbies are ceramics, camping and bowling and she is very young at heart. Jean would like an American pen pal.

Anne from Kenya

Anne was born on November 30, 1946 in Kenya and now lives in Nairobi. She attended college and has traveled around East Africa. Her favorite book is The Bible and she likes to eat chicken burgers. James Bond movies are her favorites and memories of when she first dated are her dearest.

Anne has four children and one dog, called Mom. She likes to read, dance, listen to music and swim and would appreciate pen friends from all over the world.

Ali M. from Pakistan

Ali was born on August 5, 1938 in Lucknow, India and now lives in Karachi, Pakistan. He speaks Urdu and attended engineering school. He has traveled all over Europe, china, the United States and Mexico and his favorite book is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. His favorite food is sausage and his favorite movie is Mutiny on the Bounty. Memories of his first trip to Europe are his dearest.

Ali has two sons, one four-year-old granddaughter, one three-year-old grandson, birds, dogs, and parrots. His hobbies are gardening, birds and pen pals. Ali has been having pen pals throughout his life and is interested in many things as hobbies. His dearest wish is to improve the quality of life of people.

I love reading the lines about their favorite foods.

Not surprisingly, the Middle East is barely represented. Still, it's a great way to get to know someone in a country or state you don't know much about or would like to visit in the future. And you might improve our reputation overseas!