How does it feel like to have a love that’s over 30 years in the making?
Stephanie Kraemer from Naperville, Illinois was 13 when her friend encouraged her to write to someone in Norway, a country her friend was obsessed with at that time.
Miles away, a teen two years older than her received a letter by mail.
Petter Grønlien wrote back, and from then on, a beautiful friendship started.
Even when Kraemer’s friendship with the person who encouraged her fizzled, she continued to write to Norway.
Kraemer didn’t expect anything to come out of it.
After their first exchange, both of them included photos of themselves so they could see who they were talking to.
None of them expected that their letters could turn into something more.
At first, they wrote about mundane things like “stupid teenage drama” at school, their friends, how “lame” their parents are, and other things that teens talk about.
Then, months turned into years.
As time went by, their commitment to the letters didn’t go away.
They were living miles away from each other with a whole ocean separating them.
But through the distance, they worked to make the friendship endure the test of time.
They sent each other photos over the years and from teenage drama, their topics turned to adulthood, and even romance.
Being romantically involved was never in the plan.
In fact, it was only brought up right before Kraemer was about to get married. When she told Grønlien about it, her phone rang. Grønlien told her to marry him before the other man.
Nothing came out of that hasty proposal as well.
They both moved on from the episode but remained close friends.
“We confided in one another so much and were always able to tell one another things we couldn’t tell anyone else,” Kraemer said to Cater News.
But their feelings were persistent.
After their failed relationships, a realization washed over them. Kraemer admitted that things only got flirty about 8 months before she went to him in Norway.
She often describes their relationship as “right person, wrong time” as they never could get the timing right even with the emotional bond they share.
This time, they knew everything was right.
“The first time we met there was no awkwardness, he ran up and hugged me, it was like being at home and like we had been together forever,” Kraemer told Cater News about their reunion.
Grønlien said they both had butterflies in their stomachs before they saw each other in person but they all “flew away” when they saw each other at Lillehammer train station.
With how intertwined their lives are, it took little work to move on to the next chapter.
They both described that they’ve been involved in each other’s families.
Kraemer shared that Grønlien talks to her brother often and that she talks to his sister as often too.
The couple has since raised funds for Kraemer’s health concerns so she could move to Norway with her son.
Watch how these penpals go from friends to lovers after over 30 years.
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