An 88-year-old great-grandmother still receives a Christmas card every year from the German pen pal she has been writing to since she was 12.
Sylvia Perkins, from Bermondsey, south-east London, started writing to Lisa Kull in Germany in 1948, while attending Monnow Road Girls’ School, as part of a school exchange after the Second World War.
While the other pupils in her class ended their correspondence after the project was completed, Mrs Perkins continued writing to Mrs Kull, who is now 89.
Despite never speaking on the phone or meeting in person, they have shared life updates and maintained the tradition of sending Christmas cards for the last 76 years.
“We had this one English lesson where we were given this address, and we obviously wrote these letters, and I presume the school posted them,” Mrs Perkins told the PA news agency.
“Then we were left to go our own way to keep it up and my mum encouraged me to keep writing.
“I can remember one Easter, my mum, who was a very smart dresser, bought this beautiful scarf for Lisa that we posted off at Easter.
“At our age now it’s just Christmas cards.”
Mrs Perkins said she was the only one in her class who continued to write letters.
“I’m a stayer in that respect, and she must have been the same.
“She must have the same sort of temperament as me and I value this.”
Mrs Perkins said although the school exercise was initiated as a result of the war, she and Mrs Kull never spoke about it.
“I only know a very few words of German, but the first time she wrote to me her English was, and I mean even now is, perfect,” she said.
“We didn’t talk about the war. Her husband, Willie, I think was taken as a prisoner of war by the Russians.
“He didn’t come home from Russia til five years after the war.”
For her 50th birthday, Mrs Perkins’ daughter Joanne tried to arrange for Mrs Kull to come over to London but she was unable to because of her husband’s ill health.
While the two have never met in person or even spoken on the phone, their correspondence has been a consistent part of both their lives.
“It’s just what we did in those days. I mean, we didn’t have social media. It was pen and paper, wasn’t it?” said Mrs Perkins.
Her most recent Christmas card from Mrs Kull reads: “Dear Sylvia, another year is over, and we are one year older, 88 and 89 years.
“You are a great-grandmother and I am a great-grandmother to Yoshi, the new dog of my grandson, Jonas and his wife.
“2024 was a good year with good health. I am in my house. For you and your family, a very happy Christmas and a healthy 2025. Yours, Lisa.”
Mrs Perkins said she looks forward to receiving Mrs Kull’s card every Christmas to know she is still alive and well.
“It’s one Christmas card a year, but I get that Christmas card and I think, whoopee, she’s still going strong,” she said.
