Pen pals enjoy 60-year friendship from opposite sides of the world
Diane Hatt and Joy Doevendans catch up in Renmark earlier this year. (ABC Riverland: Matt Stephens)
Joy Doevendans and Diane Hatt are an unlikely pair of best friends, having lived their entire lives on opposite sides of the world.
Despite being separated by almost 12,000 kilometres — Ms Doevendans in Renmark, South Australia, and Ms Hatt in Enderby, Canada — the pair have maintained a friendship that has lasted for more than half a century.
"I think Diane knows more about me than my family,"Ms Doevendans said.
"We consider each other family. If we don't hear from each other in a couple of days, we write and say, 'is everything OK?'" Ms Hatt said.
Diane and Joy inspect the first letter Diane ever sent, more than 50 years ago. (ABC Riverland: Matt Stephens)
The pair's connection began when, at the age of 12, Ms Hatt reached out to a friend of Ms Doevendans's, in search of an Australian pen pal.
"There was a newspaper called the Vancouver Sun and they had [an ad] where people could write in and just ask for pen pals," Ms Hatt said.
At the time, Ms Doevendans's friend had "too many pen pals" and decided to pass Ms Hatt's letter on to her instead.
"She said, 'I've got too many, would you like one?' and I said, 'Sure!' And I just happened to get Diane's," Ms Doevendans said.
What began as a letter sent on a whim in 1965 sparked the beginning of a 60-year friendship.
But it would take 15 years before the pair would meet the person on the other end of the pen.
Joy met Diane, and her husband Roger, for the first time in 1980, 15 years after Joy and Diane first began writing to each other. (Supplied: Diane Hatt)
Multi-generation affair
Always fascinated by Australia, Ms Hatt's mother, Ina, wanted to learn more about the country and decided to write to Ms Doevendans's mother, Florence.
Florence, a prolific letter writer in her own right, was thrilled to have someone to write to.
The mothers also went on to become long-time pen pals, creating a generational connection between the two families.
"I think if [our mothers] hadn't become pen pals, we would've lost touch,"Ms Hatt said.
Diane and her mother, Ina, first met Joy and her mother, Florence, in Australia in 1980. (Supplied: Diane Hatt)
"I had seven pen pals, and I've only kept in contact with two."
The two families met in 1980 in the South Australian town of Renmark, marking a turning point in their relationship.
"My mum, my husband and I came over here to meet Joy and the rest of the family, and I remember thinking, 'I'm really nervous about meeting her,'" Ms Hatt said.
"The visit cemented our relationship again."
Joy Doevendans and Diane Hatt have been best friends for 60 years. (ABC Riverland: Matt Stephens)
Technological advancements
While Ms Doevendans and Ms Hatt initially bonded over a shared love of writing, their mode of communicating eventually had to change with the times.
When they began writing to each other, they had to wait two weeks for a response, which made keeping up-to-date difficult.
"We would write at Christmas and maybe one other time, but we weren't really communicating all that much," Ms Hatt recalls.
But innovation in technology over the past 60 years has made things a lot easier, from email to messaging and even FaceTime.
Ms Doevendans and her husband have also visited Canada three times, including a trip in 2000. (Supplied: Diane Hatt)
"One time I got confused with the time zone and I phoned her at two in the morning,"Ms Hatt said.
Ms Doevendans still has every letter Ms Hatt has written her, but had no choice but to switch from hard copy to online records as they switched to the digital world.
"I was actually printing [the letters] but then I had folders and folders full and I thought, 'nah, I've got to stop,'" she said.
Joy has kept every letter Diane has ever written to her. (ABC Riverland: Matt Stephens)
Final farewell
One of the benefits of living so far away from each other is the discretion that comes with it, something Ms Hatt cannot always rely on back home.
"You can tell each other secrets and know very well they're not going to get out in the community,"she said.
Ms Hatt and her husband, Roger, just spent the past month visiting Ms Doevendans's family in South Australia.
Diane and Roger have visited much of South Australia, including Kangaroo Island. (Supplied: Diane Hatt)
While the pair made magical memories, Ms Hatt decided it was the last time they would visit Down Under.
"In an ideal world we would live six months here and six months in Canada,"Ms Hatt said.
"How many people can say they have one of their best friends on the other side of the world?
"I do consider Joy one of my best friends … I consider her a sister."