He's 6. She's 80. Generations apart, these pen pals connect over their love of hockey and music

As soon as Carter Nobrega, 6, gets on the phone with 80-year-old Marilyn McNamara, he tells her about how he won a prize in math class earlier that day.

"Is that right? Well, that's super," McNamara says, a smile in her voice.

The two are not related; they've become pen pals over the past year.

Last April, their church in Trenton, Ont., encouraged young members of the community to write letters to older members of the congregation. Nobrega wrote to McNamara, who was so tickled by his letter, she wrote him back and taped a toonie inside.

Now, nearly a year later, and after Nobrega's family moved to Cambridge, Ont., the two continue to write to each other. She sent him a Christmas present and he sent her flowers for Valentine's Day.

"I tell her that I play hockey," Nobrega said when asked what he talks about in his letters to McNamara.

"And that was super because I used to play hockey, too, and my brothers played hockey," she replied.

"I told her about the 24 inch fish that I caught at the cottage," he said.

"You drew a picture just outside the cottage," she chimed back.

Before his family moved, Nobrega visited McNamara's home and played the piano for her. Nobrega's mom, Laura Charette, said in an email that the friendship is "something good that came out of the pandemic."

McNamara, a retired kindergarten and Grade 1 teacher who lives in Trenton, says she was impressed with Nobrega's neat handwriting. She's also impressed by all the activities he's involved in. 

"I know that when my children were in school … they were asked to do their background, their roots, so my children were told to write letters to their grandparents and my mom and dad, I have their letters that they wrote back to the kids talking about what toys they had and what games they played and it's wonderful just to get to know different generations," she said.

"It's been a great experience. It's been fun."

Nobrega added, "It makes me happy, too."