Jessica Harpur lives in Darwin. Her friend Lecia Hendren lives in Mareeba, in northern Queensland, some 2325 kilometres away.
Over the past three years, the University of New England (UNE) students have shared most of life's ups and downs - relationship developments, work woes, assignment deadlines, family events - all through letters.
"So many details of Lecia's life I've seen unfold in the pages of her letters," Jessica says. "It feels like I've known her forever, yet we've never met in person."
The pair bonded over a shared online Italian class in 2018, became "study buddies" and then friends, before exchanging addresses by email. They've been writing to one another ever since. Jessica in Italian and Lecia in English, usually once a month.
"Jess uses me as a guinea pig for her written Italian," Lecia says, "so it takes me a little longer to read her letters, but it keeps my brain active. I still get the same feeling of excitement every time I receive one, and although Jess has now graduated, she continues to help me with my Italian and Italian history. Our friendship has really eased the isolation of online study for me."
Colourful stationery and stickers make the correspondence more fun, and the pair share all sorts of news.
"Lecia talks about her employment, her long-term relationship, her health, her ambitions, her house renovations, road trips with her two dogs and cat, her family, her hopes and dreams," Jessica says. "We talk about anything and everything. She's heard all about my life, too. We've sent each other gifts and photos, but we've never video-chatted; I've just seen her face in photographs."
But they hope that will change later this year at Lecia's wedding, planned for November in Port Douglas. "I'm saving as much as possible in order to be there for her special day," Jessica says."Lecia is a delight to talk to and I'm so glad I met her. I honestly didn't think I'd make any long-term friends while studying online, but I'm glad I was wrong, and that we've become friends."
Both women maintain that the lost art of letter-writing should be encouraged, especially during these challenging times.
"Email is fine, but everyone uses it," Lecia says. "I find it a lot easier to talk to Jess through a letter, and it's more personal. But it will be great to meet her in person at my wedding. I'm pretty sure we will get on like a house on fire."
