It’s easy to imagine the good-feel vibes when hugging one of your oldest friends. However, in this instance, it’s the very first time you’ve ever met them in person. That’s exactly what happened when Australian woman Saskia Martin finally met her longtime Canadian pen pal, Heidi Thibeault-Grainger, after 33 years of friendship.

The two had spent three decades sharing their lives through handwritten letters, then emails and social media, watching one another grow from elementary school students into adults. Through each of their life’s milestones, they cultivated a close friendship even though they had never actually shared the same room.

When they finally had that moment of meeting face-to-face, instead of it being what one might expect- a little uncomfortable- it was amazingly easy.

“It was so comfortable, and it wasn’t awkward,” Saskia told ABC News. “I wasn’t nervous… it was actually very bizarre.”

Building a lasting friendship

This story began in the early 1990s through an international pen pal program that matched school children from different countries. Saskia was growing up on the beach in Australia. Heidi lived on a cattle ranch in Canada. Unlike countless kids today using smartphones and instant........

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