Jessica Koors, a fourth-grader at Glyndon Elementary school, met her 84-year old pen pal for the first time yesterday, when her class brought holiday cheer to a Baltimore County senior day care center.
The 9-year-old knelt in front of Ruth Belsky, who sat enjoying the attention of the young friend with whom she had corresponded for months but had never met.
"We write to each other. She tells me about when she was a little girl, and I tell her about when I was a little girl. It wasn't that much different," Ms. Belsky said.
Other friendships were formed and renewed as the class of about 20 children -- who became pen pals with the senior citizens in September -- sang holiday songs, celebrated December birthdays, and exchanged cards.
"We have found that activities with children really, really make them happy," said Lynn Meier, the activities director at Senior Connections Elder Care in Owings Mills.
Mrs. Meier's 8-year-old son, Mitchell, was the link between the seniors and his classmates. He occasionally visits his mother's workplace, and in the fall he chose Carrie Brown, 69, as a pen pal.
They've exchanged four letters discussing their families, vacations, and of course, the Orioles. He saves her letters at home, he said.
"He wrote me a nice letter," Ms. Brown said. "Telling me he likes sports and what-not. I thought it was beautiful."
Mitchell's class eventually adopted the pen pal project.
Many of the 25 seniors who came yesterday showed obvious pleasure in the visit by a bus load of young people.
"I loved everything about it," said Anne Levinson. She said she comes to Senior Connections a few times a week, but hadn't yet linked up with a young correspondent.
"You know what? I never did have a pen pal," she said. "I'd like that little girl Heather to be it."
She was talking about Heather Thompson, 9, who chatted with her yesterday afternoon in the center's main activity room. Heather said she will start corresponding with Ms. Levinson, but she's not sure yet what she'll write about.
"Maybe about how nice she is," Heather said, eating cake with her classmates. "She talked nice to me. She talked to me about her life, and how she was kind of like me when she was little."
She and other students in Betty Coyle's fourth-grade class sang a handful of holiday songs, then scrambled around the room looking for their pen pals, most of whom were eager to be found.
Mildred Ewing, 74, who charmed the room by reciting a whimsical poem called "How To Get What You Want For Christmas," waited patiently in her wheelchair until her pen pal Chris Frei found her. Ms. Ewing boasted that the fourth-grader looks just like her grandson, and she gave him a gift -- a mosaic puzzle.
She said the center, and the interaction with children, keeps her spirits up. "I was sitting home alone, and I was tired of being alone. I'm not so lonely any more."
The exchange helps both young and old, according to Arnold Eppel, acting director of the Baltimore County Department of Aging.
"The senior population is a population that our youth have not forgotten about. They realize the seniors can play a major role because of the experience they have. They bring some of their past experiences and share them with the children, and the kids . . . re-energize the senior citizens," he said.
"The kids are learning and the seniors are benefiting because they feel 20 years younger."