For most people, communication with a pen-pal amounts to little more than an early flurry of letters ? quickly followed by years of deafening silence.

Not for Delores Glasford.

Amazingly, she has kept in touch with pen pal Julie Maschhoff, who lives hundreds of miles away in Illinois, USA, for nearly 50 years.

The pair became writing buddies at the tender age of ten and have certainly kept their postmen busy over the years.

In what amounts to nearly half a century of air mail friendship, they?ve swapped hundreds of letters and exchanged countless secrets.

As a result, the little girls ? one from the cornfields of Illinois, the other from a tiny Island in the Atlantic ? have grown up together by post, sharing the highs and lows of life-changing experiences like leaving school, finding first sweethearts, getting married, having children and losing loved ones.

?We are twins,? mother-of-two Delores, now 57, told . ?Except one of us is white and one is black. We know much about each other.?

The writing relationship started way back in 1959, when Delores flipped through a booklet of prospective pen-pals while at Grace Methodist Sunday School, North Shore. She picked two names at random.

?I wrote to two people from Illinois: one white, one black. I lost touch with the latter, but me and Julie have stayed in touch.?

@$:That first letter has not been kept, lost in the chaos and clutter of childhood, but Delores can vividly recall what it said.

?I told her my name, Delores Minks, and gave her a little history of Bermuda. She wrote back and asked if I swam to school, ate fish sandwiches and wore grass skirts. After that we just kept writing and writing.

?We connected immediately and must have spent a lot of money on stamps over the 47 years ? but it's been worth it.?

Their friendship, however, goes far beyond mere letter writing.

The kindred spirits first met in 1980, after 20 years of corresponding, when Julie came to the Island to be godmother to one of Delores' sons.

Birthdays are etched in each other's minds and never missed ? Julie celebrates on October 13; Delores on July 29. But other key occasions like children's birthdays and wedding anniversaries are also strictly remembered.

Delores has been four times to Julie's home in the city of Bloomington, three hours drive from Nashville and surrounded by the sweeping cornfields of Illinois. Julie, who Delores says remains upbeat about life despite her eyesight deteriorating to the point where she is now legally blind, has made the return trip to Bermuda on three occasions.

?Our families have really bonded well and we all exchange Christmas cards,? said Delores. ?Julie is the closest friend I have away from Bermuda. I don't know anyone else who has that kind of pen pal. So many people say they have not kept in touch, but we have never drifted apart.?

The pair know each other so well by now they don't even say hello when they pick up the phone ? they have their own theme song, a catchy little ditty about money and pie in the sky.

?I could be anywhere in the world, but when I call she knows it's me,? recalled Delores, who works as a church officer at St. Andrews's, Hamilton, and also as a travel agent.

?Julie is a teacher by trade, but she's taught me to live life and live it to the fullest regardless of what happens. If you went to her house you would not know she was blind.

?She's fantastic. She has two hearing aids and is legally blind but she enjoys life.

?Family comes first with her and me, so we are alike 100 per cent. It's like we read each other's minds, that's the type of relationship we have. It really is like we are twins.?

The pair's story has already featured in Julie's local newspaper, The Bloomington Pantagraph, and is spreading across America.

Warwick resident Delores says that Julie wants to visit Bermuda again, this time for Cup Match next summer.

And she's determined to grow old with her long-standing pen pal, be it through good old fashioned pen and paper, on the telephone or even through a more modern form of communication not even dreamt of in 1959 when they first touched base ? emails .

?We will stay in touch,? said Julie defiantly.

And after all those years of exchanging countless letters, you know that's going to be an easy promise for the firm friends to keep.