Two Women Have Kept the Same Friendship Alive Across the Atlantic for 70 Years

In 1956, two young girls living thousands of kilometres apart began exchanging letters through a Brownie pen-pal programme. Seven decades later, they are still talking to each other.

Kathleen Wilson from Glasgow, Scotland, was 10 years old when her Brownie group leader gave her the address of Shirley Hedtke, an 11-year-old girl living in Wisconsin in the United States.

Neither could have known that the simple exchange would become a lifelong friendship.

At first, their letters were filled with the ordinary details of childhood. They wrote about school, family life and their interests, while also learning about what everyday life was like on the other side of the Atlantic.

As the girls grew older, the letters changed with them.

They eventually began sharing stories about relationships, marriage, motherhood and raising children. What started as a childhood activity gradually became a relationship that continued through every major stage of their lives.

The technology used to maintain their friendship has changed dramatically over the years. Their earliest messages crossed the Atlantic by Air Mail. Later, they moved to email, phone calls and eventually WhatsApp.

Despite living in different countries, the two women have continued to make time for each other.

They have met in person only a few times. Their first meeting came decades after their correspondence began, followed by further visits in Scotland and the United States.

During a recent visit to Wisconsin, Kathleen and Shirley were able to spend more time together in Shirley’s home, giving them an opportunity to experience the friendship they had maintained for so long beyond letters and screens.

Their connection has also become part of their families’ stories. About 55 years ago, Kathleen named her daughter Shirley after her American pen pal.

That decision created an unusual family tradition, with the two women sometimes being distinguished as “Shirley America” and “Shirley Scotland.”

Now both women are in their 80s, but the friendship shows no sign of disappearing.

Their children have also developed a relationship of their own, and the younger generation hopes to continue the connection that began with two girls choosing to write to a stranger more than seven decades ago.

For Kathleen and Shirley, the friendship has survived changes in technology, geography and generations because they never stopped communicating.

What began with a name pulled from a box in a Brownie meeting became something neither girl could have predicted: a friendship that has lasted longer than most people can remember.

After 70 years, the two women no longer describe each other simply as pen pals.

They consider each other family.

Sources: BBC Scotland, September 18, 2026; People, September 2026.