Longtime pen pals enjoy visit at Bernards’ 50th anniversary
– Longtime pen pals Lisa Bernard and Yulanda Hanson held a reunion recently at Bernard’s home in Catahoula, 50 years after the two first met in person.
Hanson flew in from her home in Alaska to celebrate Bernard’s 50th wedding anniversary with husband Lonnie Bernard.
Hanson and Lisa, then Lisa Thibodeaux, first began exchanging letters in the mail after Thibodeaux received a chain letter that included including Hanson’s, name and address. Lisa’s mother had received the letter, which included a list of four or five people and their addresses to write to, with the person writing the letter scratching out the top name on the list and inserting their own at the bottom.
Bernard was 12 at the time the two began writing each other and Hanson was 11. Bernard knew someone whose father worked in Alaska, who was a friend of Hanson’s in Kenai, Alaska.
“When my mama saw her from Alaska, she said, ‘Write to her and ask if y’all can be pen pals,’ and since then we’ve been pen pals,” Bernard said.
“Well now we kind of text,” Hanson said.
“Now we text,” Bernard said. “But for the longest time, probably from sixth grade to high school I’d run to the mailbox every day.”
The Bernards’ anniversary was on March 20, but the two celebrated on March 21, a Saturday, with family and friends including Hanson. The Rev. Bill Melancon blessed the union at a ceremony on March 21 at St. Rita Catholic Church in Catahoula, where the two had been married in 1976.
The wedding announcement in The Teche News on April 14, 1976, included a paragraph mentioning Bernard.
“Very special guest was Miss Yulanda Richardson of Fairbanks, Alaska. Miss Richardson and the bride were pen pals for eight years and were meeting for the first time,” the announcement said.
“I served in her wedding,” Hanson said. “She sent me the pattern and the fabric and I made my dress. (That was) the first time I flew down to the lower 48.
“I got on the plane in Fairbanks, Alaska, and flew into Lafayette, Louisiana. Right before I got off the plane I pulled out a picture of her and looked at it. Of course, right there waiting, there she was with her brother and her mom and dad and everyone. I had a great week. Beautiful wedding.”
Bernard said that Hanson was supposed to stay for a week during her first visit but enjoyed herself so much that she stayed for an extra week.
The anniversary celebration took place at the church and the Bernards’ home.
“We celebrated Saturday over here,” Bernard said of the 50th anniversary. “We had Alaska salmon she brought, and we had crawfish.”
She said she also visited her friend in Louisiana in 1993 as she stopped while heading to a convention in Atlanta. Bernard’s mother and husband picked Hanson up at the airport to surprise Bernard on that trip.
In 2009, Lonnie and Lisa Bernard visited Hanson in Alaska. It was the first time the two had taken a flight.
“She showed us the best time ever,” Bernard said. “We went to the Alaska Pipeline. We went to the North Pole. I got to sit on Santa’s lap. We halibut fished and salmon fished. We were near (Mount Redoubt), spewing from the volcano. It was awesome.”
The pen pals were featured in a story in the Fairbanks newspaper in Alaska for that visit.
Hanson is a member of the Kenaitze Indian tribe in Alaska and serves on some tribal committees. Born in Anchorage, she grew up in Kenai and lives there now.
She’s also visited in 2010 for the wedding of Amber Bernard, one of Lisa’s daughters. Hanson also visited around 2012 for a surprise birthday party for Lisa Bernard. Hanson was living in Texas at the time. The last time the two visited prior to this trip was in 2019.
“(This trip has) been fantastic,” Hanson said. “Everybody’s making sure I get some crawfish and boudin.”
Hanson enjoyed looking over the letters she sent to Bernard, including the first letter sent from her to Bernard.
“It’s been hot for a week or so here, more than usual,” Hanson wrote that first time. “Seventy degrees. It’s only cold in the winter, sometimes under zero. I was born and raised in Alaska and have never been in the states. I like vacation but I get lonesome for school. I guess I like it.”
She also mentioned that she was writing while she was babysitting, and that a lot of people think that Alaskans live in snowhouses, but they don’t.
“I’m glad you wrote and I like to write letters,” Hanson said. “Today is my birthday. Your pen pal, Yulanda.”
She also found another letter from 1973.
“I’m now considered a junior,” Hanson read. “It seems only a couple of years ago I was in sixth grade when I first started writing you. I’m kind of surprised it’s lasted this long.
“Four years is quite a while to be writing to someone you only know from letters,” she continued with a laugh. “For all we know we could hate each other if we ever met. I hope someday we’ll be able to meet.”
Bernard said the two have never had a disagreement or argument.
The letter added that Hanson hoped Bernard would get to be a nurse. Bernard said that at one time she wanted to be a nurse, but ended up married with three daughters, two of whom went into nursing.
The letter also mentioned Bernard’s future husband.
“How long have you and Lonnie been together?” Hanson said. “I sure hope it doesn’t end. It sure sounds like you’re hung up on him.”
Bernard and Hanson laughed at that.
“Little did you know,” Bernard said.
Hanson planned to spend the weekend visiting her daughter Lisa in Seattle on the way back to Alaska after leaving Louisiana this past Friday.
