LaSalle woman finally reads 58-year-old pen pal letter

MONROE — For 58 years, Bev Gerber held on to a letter she never read.

In 1966, as a student at Ida Public School, Bev and her classmates were assigned pen pals. Bev got Nicole Tricoche of France. Bev sent Nicole a letter, and Nicole replied back — but in French.

With her French dictionary, Bev attempted to translate the two-page letter. She could only figure out a couple of words.

“There was something about a horse,” Bev said. “It never worked out. I had no idea what it said.”

So, a disappointed Bev was assigned a new pen pal, Mark of Somerset, England.

“They knew I was into England and the British stuff,” Bev said. “I was very sure it was my in with The Beatles.”

Bev and Mark, a retired courier, have corresponded about once a month since 1966. Today they mostly email. They’ve shared their stories of marriages, children and deaths. The two recently began swapping recipes.

“All the life experiences,” Bev said.

But, Bev always kept the unread letter from Nicole.

“It sat in an attic for all these years. I kept it folded up with my photos. I got it out once in awhile and would think, why am I keeping this? Now I know why,” Bev said.

Bev, 72, a lifelong LaSalle resident, is a member of Monroe Center for Healthy Aging, where she helps serve breakfast. At the center, she met Vonnie Bess, 93. Both women are there every morning. Bev recently asked Vonnie to help her read the letter.

“How did you know to come and ask me?” Vonnie asked Bev last week at the Monroe Center.

“I heard you talking,” Bev replied.

Vonnie still has a French accent. A native of Quebec City, Canada, Vonnie had French parents and learned to speak and write French in school. She even taught French for 10 years. Until about a year ago, she lived in Florida. Then, Hurricane Ian hit.

“We’re alive,” she said. “We left Florida three days before the hurricane. We left everything.”

Her home and all its contents were destroyed.

“My (family) sent a picture. My furniture was in the street,” Vonnie said.

So, Vonnie and her husband started over in Monroe, where they joined the Monroe Center for Healthy Aging.

Just before Christmas, Bev told Vonnie about the pen pal letter and brought it to the center. Vonnie took it home and came back the next day with a written translation.

“It brings my French back,” Vonnie said. “I’m losing my French.”

In the letter, as translated by Vonnie, Nicole said her birthday was Aug. 15 and that she had brown hair, green eyes and three siblings. Nicole said she loved to swim and go horseback riding. She had a small black dog, but she couldn’t keep it.

“Our house is built inside a huge garden,” Vonnie read from the letter. “It’s all around the house and not good for the dog.”

Nicole wrote about some of her favorite music groups: Enrico Macias, Herman’s Hermits and Sheila. She asked Bev about the U.S., her family and her favorite bands.

“If you can, send me a photo of them,” Nicole wrote.

The correspondence ends with, “Write back, but in French, please.”

“Good grief,” Vonnie said. “That poor woman’s been waiting all those years.”

“Write down what you want to write back,” Vonnie told Bev. “I’ll write back in French. That would be surprising for her.”

Bev said she may search for Nicole on social media.

While preparing the written translation, Vonnie made a few mistakes. Since she didn’t have correction fluid, she used white paint to cover the errors.

“So, for a thank-you gift, I got her Wite-Out,” Bev said.

“I’ve used it five times now,” Vonnie said.

Bev worked in special education services for the Monroe County Intermediate School District for 35 years. After that, she spent 10 years at Monroe's Family Counseling and Shelter Services. Now, she volunteers at the Monroe Center.

In addition to teaching French, Vonnie had taught art. She has three children, including a daughter who still lives in Canada. Vonnie has six grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. She enjoys painting, especially art with lighthouses.

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The women enjoyed their shared project.

“We did have fun with this,” Bev said. “It brought her and I together. You never know who you’re going to encounter."

"If you didn’t come here,” Bev told Vonnie, “the letter would still be dry rotting in my attic, and our paths wouldn’t have crossed. It’s really neat; our lives end up with all these interactions.”

— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: LaSalle woman finally reads 58-year-old pen pal letter