Penpals started writing to each other in 1960, have remained very close ever since
By Scott Thoma
When Muriel (Odden) Coulter of Tracy, Minn., was 10 years old and living in Echo, Minn., the fourth-grader became pen pals with a young girl the same age in England.
Sixty-four years later, Muriel and Helen (Griffin) Taylor of Willington, England, still keep in touch often, but have modernized their way of communicating over the years.
“We usually communicate every Sunday on Facetime,” Coulter said. “If not, it’s at least every other week. We make it a point, too, to send each other at least two handwritten letters a year.”
Helen and her husband, Peter, have visited Muriel and her husband, John, three times in the United States. The Coulters have been to England twice to visit the Taylors.
“We’ve gotten to know each other’s family very well,” Muriel said.
The two ladies started corresponding in letters in 1960 when an older friend of Muriel’s was already a pen pal with a girl in England, who was friends with Helen.
“My friend suggested that I become pen pals with Helen and I said I would be happy to do that,” Muriel said. “We wrote to each other every month and we’ve stayed in touch ever since.”
Muriel thought the letters she received from Helen when she was younger were still at her mother’s house. But when her mother passed away in 2001, the letters were nowhere to be found.
“My mother must have thought I didn’t want them and threw them away,” Muriel said. “I wish I still had them. When I visited Helen in England, she pulled out this huge box from under her bed and it contained all the cards and letters I had written to her, photos I had sent her, and even cards that my children had sent her.”
Muriel’s mother did save one of the gifts that Helen sent Muriel.
“Helen sent me a piece of her wedding cake when she and Peter were married in 1971,” Muriel said with a laugh. “My mother had put it in the freezer and it was still in there when we cleaned out her house after she passed away.”
When Muriel and John were married in 1972, Muriel returned the favor and sent Helen a piece of their wedding cake.
Throughout the years, the pen pals have sent each other birthday and Christmas cards and presents.
“After we got to know each other’s families, we were sending cards and gifts to each other’s children and grandchildren, too,” Muriel said. “We’ve had to cut back, though, because it got to be too much as the families kept growing.”
Helen and Peter have two children and four grandchildren. Peter worked for the railroad and Helen was an office worker. Muriel and John have three children and eight grandchildren. Muriel and John also had a fourth child, Emily, who passed away in 2009. John was a history and art teacher in Tracy for many years. Muriel was a special education instructor for many years, and has been a special education coordinator since 2013 in Tracy.
Muriel recalled the first time she and Helen met in person 16 years ago.
“It was always a wish and a hope that we would meet, but I didn’t think it would ever happen,” said Muriel. “It was so nice to finally meet Helen and her family. It was very emotional. I can’t even describe it. I felt so close to her family through all the letters we had written. It was quite an experience. It was like finding a long, lost sibling.”
The first meeting occurred in 2008 when Muriel, John and their daughter, Jessica, flew to England.
“We met in a coffee shop in London,” Muriel said. “Helen hired a professional photographer to come in and take a photo of her entire family, along with the three of us.”
The following year, the Taylors came to the United States to visit the Coulters and their family.
“We took them to a lot of places,” Muriel said. “We went to northern Minnesota, the Black Hills, Wyoming, and North Dakota. In Wyoming, we went to a rodeo and that was a big thing for them.”
The Taylors also visited in 2014 and again in 2016 to attend two of the Coulter children’s weddings.
“English women always wear hats and Helen wore a darling hat for the weddings,” said Muriel.
During these visits, the Coulters escorted them to several other sites in various states.
The Coulters embarked on a second trip to England to visit the Taylors this past July.
“We went to Liverpool where the Beatles came from,” said Muriel. “We both love the Beatles. “We were able to see a statue of the Beatles on Stanley Street in Liverpool, and another one of Eleanor Rigby (a fictitious character made famous in a 1966 Beatles song).”
The Coulters were also taken to tours in several cities and visited the Warwick Castle in Warwickshire, England, which is now a museum situated on a meander of the Avon River. The Warwick Castle is a medieval castle originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068.
“The dungeon tour of the castle was very interesting,” Muriel pointed out.
The Taylors also took Muriel and John to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare; to the childhood cottage of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife; to Winston Churchill’s childhood home in Blenheim Palace; and to Oxford University.
Even though Muriel and Helen are separated by just over 4,000 miles, they consider themselves “best friends forever.”