JACKSON TWP — A friendship in which the two parties have never visited or even spoken is still going strong after 65 years.

Dawna "Mitzie" Rice, 77, attended Zelienople Grade School, which was in the current parking lot at the former Chubby Chuck's restaurant. There, a classmate told her about a pen pal project in which she and an Australian sixth grader would write back and forth. The classmate told Rice an Aussie friend of her own pen pal's also wanted to correspond with someone in America.

With that first letter in 1944, a dedicated and enduring friendship was born.

While her classmate quit writing to her Australian pen pal, Rice continued her correspondence with Maureen Martin, also 77.

After only a few letters, Rice realized she had much in common with her airmail "mate," who seemed kind and funny.

"She had such a nice personality and she still does today," Rice said.

The two women have communicated via airmail since then, sharing secrets and advising one another along life's journey. Rice said they exchange letters about once per month.

Rice said in the beginning, the two preteens talked about school-related issues and the differences between life Down Under and in the United States. She said the latter continues to be the case, as each woman remains fascinated with the weather, lifestyles and history of the other's homeland.

As the pen pals got older, Rice married and had a family, while Martin remained single. Rice, not being one to mince words, urged Martin toward marriage on more than one occasion.

"I said, 'Of all the sailors going into Australia, you'd think you'd get yourself a man,'" Rice recalled with a hearty laugh.

Because Rice found herself in the throes of child-rearing and housekeeping, Martin often had more time to write. Those letters always contained good wishes and questions about Rice's family, and Rice reciprocated by asking about Martin's parents.

Many presents have also been exchanged between hemispheres over the years. Photos of Martin in her yard lined with palm trees and of Rice in deep snow have passed between the two friends many times.

Rice has received scores of trinkets from Martin, including koala bears, Aborigine beads, boomerangs, kangaroos, books, scarves, tablecloths and other items.

"I've got a whole cedar chest full of stuff," said Rice.

Martin sends Rice an Aussie-themed calendar at the end of each year, and Rice recently sent Martin a Terrible Towel.

"She wrote back 'What does that mean?'" said Rice.

Rice said Martin expressed a fondness for anything tagged "made in the U.S.A." or about the Amish, a subject that fascinated Martin. Clippings detailing the campaign and victory of President Barack Obama also arrived in Rice's mailbox to prove the U.S. presidential election was a story even on the other side of the world.

One present from Martin that met with raised eyebrows was a can of kangaroo soup.

"I was afraid to eat it," recalled Rice, "but my mother said 'Go ahead. It might taste like oyster stew,' but I was afraid."

Rice said her friend's long-distance gifts have proven educational, as her children have taken items to school for show-and-tell.

Rice muses that although some aspects of their lives were very different, she and Martin shared many similarities.

"She cared for her parents until they died, and I cared for my husband until he died," Rice said. "She watches her nieces and nephews, and I watch my grandchildren. So we're both caregivers."

Rice said Martin worried about her when her husband was ill and after he died, so she sent lists of jokes to cheer her up.

Rice even paid the ultimate tribute to her faraway friend when she named her second daughter Maureen.

"She was really surprised when I named my daughter after her," Rice said.

Aging simultaneously has naturally lent itself to mutual advice on growing older. Rice counseled Martin to dye her gray hair after Martin sent a picture, and Martin encouraged Rice to join senior citizens activities after the death of her husband.

"She's a great person to know," Rice said.

The two have never talked on the telephone or discussed visiting one another, enjoying instead their written correspondence.

"Now we're too far up in years to visit," Rice said.

The active widow said she plans to continue the friendship she treasures as fate allows.

"I owe her a letter right now," Rice said. "It's been very satisfying to know that someone across the globe takes an interest in you and cares about you."