After 60 years of writing letters, pen pals meet face-to-face for the first time

During the early stages of their mutual pen-ship, Emily Conn from Pennsylvania and Brenda Stowe from Georgia stayed in touch with weekly or monthly letters about their lives.

"I mean, we were really young, so we weren't into much discussion about anything serious," Conn explains to TODAY.com. "'How are your grades?' 'How's the weather?' All those non-important things."

"Eventually, over the years, we ended up talking on the phone, and we came to talk about all of the things," she continues. "We talked about jobs and home and weather and, you know, how we were feeling."

Conn says they've being there for each other during "difficult times," including in recent days: Conn has been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.

"Brenda had breast cancer at one time, I had it also, and that kind of drew us even closer," she shares. “And then this time in my life, the cancer came back, and it metastasized to a different area ... it’s not that we dwell on the cancer part. We just keep a positive attitude and do our very best to uplift each other and everyone around us and to stay positive.”

Conn calls their friendship "a blessing," adding, "We're always glad to hear each other’s voices and talk one-on-one." ❤️