Moulton woman and Scottish woman pen pals for 66 years
Apr. 27—Sitting side by side, Christine Jackson and Ann Sprott — for one of the few times in their 66-year friendship — reached out and hugged one another.
"This friendship has been beyond words. It is something I have enjoyed all these years. I never thought when this began, it would continue this long. I didn't think we'd live this long," Sprott said with a laugh.
For the fourth time, and the first time since 2010, Jackson, of Moulton, and Sprott, of Scotland, who started a pen pal friendship in 1957 courtesy of America's Girl Scouts and Scotland's Girls' Brigade, met in person.
"I was in Brownies and our troop leader got the names of other girls in Scotland," said Jackson, who was 10 when the letter exchanges began. "We are the only ones who continued to write each other."
Jackson and Sprott attributed their friendship to shared interests and a lot of patience.
When the two started writing, it took six weeks for a letter to be delivered between Alabama and Scotland. In those early letters, they talked about their daily lives and boyfriends.
"I could tell Ann secrets I couldn't tell anyone else because who would she tell. She was one of the first people I told about my boyfriend because my parents did not want me to date," Jackson said.
"And when your father found out about that boyfriend, he did get mad, didn't he," Sprott said.
Over time, the exchanges between Jackson and Sprott, which transitioned from handwritten letters to phone calls to emails to FaceTime, included news about engagements, weddings, births and deaths.
On the day Jackson married her husband, Coy, Sprott sent a telegram congratulating her.
"I received the telegram just as I was about to walk down the aisle. I just started crying," Jackson said.
The two first met in 1966 when Jackson, who was part of a work study program in Austria, and Sprott met in London.
"It was my first time on an airplane," Sprott said. "I was very excited to see her in person. It's like we just clicked. We got along so well."
They saw each other three other times, when Sprott visited Alabama in 1970 and 1980, and when Jackson flew to Scotland in 2010.
"This is probably the last time we'll see each other," Jackson said. "I've got Parkinson's disease, and I can't fly to see her."
"We'll just make the most of this one," Sprott said.
Sprott and her husband, Billy, arrived at the Huntsville International Airport on Monday morning and are returning home Thursday. Their visit included a lunch with members of Jackson's Brownie troop at Olive Garden and a cookout at Jackson's house.
— cgodbey@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2441. Twitter @DecaturLiving.
