I had been writing to my penpal ever since I was in elementary school.
It surprised me that even while in college, my penpal and I continued writing to each other.
I lived in the United States, and she lived in Canada. When I told her we were coming to Toronto, Ontario, she instantly told me she wanted to visit with me. While I was there. She wrote to me and gave me her home address in Toronto, Ontario, and told me to let her know when we got there. My significant other and I were excited to visit this friend of almost 20 years, that I had never met. I had to admit that it was odd when I finally got to see my friend. First thing she offered us when we got into the house was a Brownie. I rarely ate sweets, but she told me she made them herself and I didn’t want to be rude. After just one bite, I knew these were not ordinary brownies, but she had laced them with marijuana. I didn’t know that, and recreational marijuana was legal and Toronto, Ontario, but I didn’t know that my friend was a user of recreational marijuana. You would’ve thought that in the 20 years while we were writing to each other, that she may have mentioned that she often used marijuana, but she kept it a secret. It’s funny how one small left out detail can change the way you feel about someone. Suddenly, my 20 year Toronto, Ontario penpal, seemed like a stranger. I knew we were going to leave Toronto, Ontario, that evening. There was nothing or anyone there that I was interested in seeing.