I Will Always Write Back, a pen-pal relationship that stuck!

Now a days people communicate through texts, DMs, and social media. Middle school and high school kids roll their eyes and chuckle when someone suggests emailing because it’s such an “ancient form” of communication, and letters? Does anyone even write them anymore?

Around the time I graduated high school my mother came across a stack of letters my uncle had written during her time at Miami University of Ohio. He was in high school and their family had moved to Louisiana, leaving my mom alone in Ohio. As my mom read over the 20-something-year-old letters, I had a strong desire to replicate their correspondence with my friends as we dispersed for college.

A month in to my freshman year at Grove City, I began writing. To my sisters, to my best friend Anna, and to one of my long-time friends Eli. Everyone hits a point in college when they get home sick and miss their high school friends. This was how I coped.

I had a feeling my sisters wouldn’t respond, being too busy with their high school lives, and as much as I love Anna, she would think about responding but probably never get around to it. So I held out hope for Eli. About two weeks later, I opened my P.O. Box to see an envelope addressed in chicken scratch; he had responded. This began our exciting long distance friendship that continues on today .

"I Will Always Write Back" caught my eye because of letters my dear friend Eli and I write to one another. I thought it fitting to include them in featuring this book. Here are the majority of the letters I have received from Eli over our five years of corresponding. As you can see from the international stamps he's the world traveler between us.

I mentioned in my post about my tour of Hachette Book Group that there are free books in the publishing industry. On my tour, I picked up two that caught my eye, the first of which being I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Granda with Liz Welch. As I was wading through the crowd of excited book nerds, this cover jumped out at me and screamed ELI! I reached over several people to grab this book off the shelf and am so glad I did.

Not only does this book somewhat reflect my relationship with Eli, but it also shares an incredible story. In this dual memoir Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Granda tell their inspirational story of how a young girl from small town in Pennsylvania and a boy from a slum in Zimbabwe became best friends through their long-distance friendship.

Caitlin’s class was tasked with writing a letter to a student in a foreign country. Caitlin chose to send her letter to Zimbabwe, the most exotic sounding country on the list. A few months later she received a response from a Martin Granda, the number one student in his school. The two exchange letters for years and their relationship is told through alternating chapters.

Martin’s narrative is compelling and heart-wrenching as he describes his life in a Zimbabwean slum. We see a small glimpse into his personal and familial struggles, the driving one being his desire to further his own education. His story of poverty reflects many people’s around the world who live without basic necessities like food, clean water, shelter, and clothing.

Caitlin’s life, one of an upper middle-class family in the United States, provides a stark contrast. As a typical American teenager, she took for granted her education, which Martin tries so hard to continue, and the many amenities her family provides. She was a “popular” girl who only cared about going to the mall, dating, and drama. There were several times I grew frustrated with her lack of understanding and failure to read between the lines of Martin’s letters. It was obvious that Martin and his family were struggling and I thought her naivete would surely lead to the end of their friendship.

Thankfully, it didn’t, and Caitlin’s transformation resulting from their friendship was astounding. She began to realize how fortunate she truly was. Her correspondence with Martin not only assisted in her personal growth, humility, and desire to help others, but also taught her about sacrifice and generosity.

For the longest time I had been unable to describe my relationship with Eli and the feelings that emerged when I received one of his letters. The following quote perfectly captures what I couldn’t put into words.

I saw it amongst the catalogs and bills and coupon flyers. The envelope was a pale blue gray, small and square, and plastered with colorful stamps that took up one-third of its surface. I ripped it open right there in the driveway… I felt that same kind of jittery excitement that I experienced every Christmas morning in anticipation of all those gifts. I had a new friend, his name was Martin, and he lived thousands of miles away. I ran into the house clutching my letter like a winning lottery ticket (27).

Young Adult Nonfiction has never been my “go-to” when it comes to choosing a book, but this memoir tells the story of growth, diversity, prejudice, and discipline. It describes the rarest of pen-pal relationships, one that actually stuck.

~M