Sunday, February 06, 2005

Calling Jennifer, are you out there?

So years ago, (and by years ago I mean like 23) I used to watch this show called The Big Blue World. It used to be on after a show about a family of Canadian loggers. (If you can imagine!!!! - I tried to get a link to both shows but couldn't find one - so I either imagined the shows or they were both so crap that no-one could be bothered!) But I digress......

The Big Blue World was about pen-pals, and each week they would showcase different kids around the world, and basically you wrote in, sending a letter detailing yourself and what you want in a pen-pal, and then after a while, they set you up with someone. Simple.

Well, I've always loved getting mail (and I think it stemmed from this show - so thanks BBW) so I sent off my letter, detailing the basic "My name is Andrea Mason, I am 12 years old, I like blah blah blah, and blah blah blah. Please find someone with the same interests, yours sincerely,...."

A few weeks went by (remember, this wasn't the day and age of the Internet.....) and out of the blue (possibly the Big BLUE World) a letter came from someone in America!

Her name was Jennifer Devivo and she was the same age as me! She had the same interests and everything..... (do I sound like a gushing 12 year old here?). Well, anyway, she lived at Gatto Lane, New York and I thought she was the best thing since sliced bread. We wrote to each other for ages on a regular basis, sending postcards from vacations (me - Bridlington, Jen - Florida) but then as we both grew older and boys and beer (for me anyway) came into the scene, our letters became every now and then kind of letters. Then at some point, they just stopped!

Normally, I wouldn't be that bothered but something about our letters just stayed with me. I used to keep them all in a folder in date order, with pictures, postcards etc., She sent me the complete book set of The Little House on The Prairie! The folder was left in the attic of my second house and when I went back to see if the owners still had it, of course they had just thrown it away! All those memories.... I can't believe that after all these years I remember her name and address! I have tried to find her but to no avail. Obviously, now that I live in America, I know that simply looking for a Gatto Lane, New York isn't going to cut it. There are things like Cities and Zip codes etc., that are required to help further a search!

Now that I have entered this wonderful world of Blogging - if anyone out there (I know - this is a stretch!) knows of a Jennifer Devivo that used to live on Gatto Lane, New York, drop me a line and I'll take it from there.

Did anyone else out there ever watch the Big Blue World? or the Canadian Loggers show (I think the word water was in the title somewhere), or does anyone out there have any pen pal stories? Comment and let me know!

****************************

Comments: -

At 9:51 AM, Mimi said...

I've never heard of that show. I always wanted a pen pal when I was younger but never had one. =(

BTW, I reviewed you yesterday. =)

At 9:57 AM, Pam said...

Oh wow! I remember that show! I used to watch it all the time! I too sent off a letter and after a few weeks I finally got a response in the mail. We corresponded for a couple of years, and I soon lost touch. She lived in Egypt and during the mid 1970's things were changing rapidly there, and my letters began to be returned. I still remember her name, what she looked like, and the descriptions of her life and family. I've tried finding her, but no luck. I wish you luck in your search too!
Pam
www.southernblog.com

At 9:59 AM, Pam said...

PS.. I have another penpal that I've been corresponding with via snail mail since the early 1980's! She does have email now, but its so much fun to still write letter and send postcards.

At 11:42 AM, Pam said...

FYI-I tried to email you some info I found for you on your missing friend, but the email came back returned. I've found 5 possible leads for you in NY.

At 11:44 AM, Brit Gal said...

Hey Pam!

Don't know why it's not coming through.....

I have two e-mails :

alkinamerica@gmail.com
andreaknapp.mailblocks.com

Try the first one and see if that works... I tried to click on your name in my comment section but it wouldn't let me look! :(

I'm all excited now!

At 12:39 PM, Webmiztris said...

sorry I can't help you find your friend! good luck!

BTW, Michele sent me!

Dawn
webmiztris.diaryland.com

At 2:03 PM, Pam said...

Andrea,
Sorry about that..forgot that my profile wasn't turned on over here on Blogger :-). Email sent!

At 2:24 PM, letti said...

i think you were talking about the Big Blue MARBLE show..i used to watch it as a kid too :)

letti

At 2:41 PM, mrsmogul said...

NY is as big as England so the address could be any town. How long have you lived in America? I am American and my husband is English.

Lisa

At 2:54 PM, veritas said...

Hey There..........saw your blog cruising around the net...check out mine!!!

Rachael

http://iraqpictures.blogspot.com/

At 7:13 PM, Wrdplyr said...

I believe the Canadian Show you were watching was called "The Beachcombers"
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/beachcombers/beachcombers.htm
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0066630/
I hope this is the correct show....it's the only one I can recall from that era pertaining to water and the beach, logging etc. It was shown here in Canada on CBC Television.
There are many favourable comments on this show at the Internet Movie Database

8 comments:

Pam said...

Oh wow! I remember that show! I used to watch it all the time! I too sent off a letter and after a few weeks I finally got a response in the mail. We corresponded for a couple of years, and I soon lost touch. She lived in Egypt and during the mid 1970's things were changing rapidly there, and my letters began to be returned. I still remember her name, what she looked like, and the descriptions of her life and family. I've tried finding her, but no luck. I wish you luck in your search too!
Pam
www.southernblog.com

Pam said...

PS.. I have another penpal that I've been corresponding with via snail mail since the early 1980's! She does have email now, but its so much fun to still write letter and send postcards.

Pam said...

FYI-I tried to email you some info I found for you on your missing friend, but the email came back returned. I've found 5 possible leads for you in NY.

Andrea Knapp said...

Hey Pam!

Don't know why it's not coming through.....

I have two e-mails :

alkinamerica@gmail.com
andreaknapp.mailblocks.com

Try the first one and see if that works... I tried to click on your name in my comment section but it wouldn't let me look! :(

I'm all excited now!

Webmiztris said...

sorry I can't help you find your friend! good luck!

BTW, Michele sent me!

Dawn
webmiztris.diaryland.com

Pam said...

Andrea,
Sorry about that..forgot that my profile wasn't turned on over here on Blogger :-). Email sent!

letti said...

i think you were talking about the Big Blue MARBLE show..i used to watch it as a kid too :)

letti

Anonymous said...

NY is as big as England so the address could be any town. How long have you lived in America? I am American and my husband is English.

Lisa