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Photo by Bob Pennell Jerri Pritt holds a picture of her Australian pen pal, Crissty Norman, who sent tickets for a month-long visit. An adventure down under Pen pal gives Central Point woman a trip to Australia By PAUL FATTIG CENTRAL POINT -- Jerri Pritt has never had a real vacation. Sure, she has had days off here and there. But she has never taken an honest-to-goodness vacation, never headed into the wild blue yonder aboard a jumbo jet bound for a distant paradise, leaving the worries of work far behind. That'll all change a week from today when she heads for Australia on a month-long "holiday," thanks to pen pal Crissty Norman, a police officer in the Brisbane area. Norman has sent Pritt a round-trip ticket to Australia, where the Oregonian will stay with Norman's family for a month. "All I've ever done is work -- I'm really, really excited about this," said Pritt, a cashier at a store in Central Point. "I've just always worked and made my way. "I just never thought anything like this would ever happen," she added. "I've never had a vacation in my life." The international friendship began four years ago this month when Pritt, a divorcee with a grown daughter in the military and stationed in Japan, was driving cab in Medford. One morning she was sent to pick up a fare at a local motel. The fare was Norman, who was visiting Medford and other communities in the United States as part of an international police study tour. She asked to be taken to the Medford Police Department. It didn't take a detective to realize the fare wasn't from these parts. "She turned out to be a police woman from Down Under," Pritt says. "She was so funny but real pleasant." For her part, Norman, who noted she "rang up" the taxi, was equally impressed with Pritt. "We had this instant connection," Norman said in a telephone interview. "It was like meeting somebody I had known all my life.'' The Australian and American are mirror images of the other: each is quick to laugh with an infectious laughter that breaks down cultural barriers. A former teacher, Norman, 44, is a senior constable with the Queensland Police, roughly the equivalent of a senior trooper in the Oregon State Police. Pritt, who describes her age as "nifty fifty," was born in Texas but has lived in the Rogue Valley for 25 years. She is an Army veteran who was in military intelligence. In addition to driving cab, she has worked as a truck driver and in electronics. Norman requested Pritt each time she needed a taxi during her visit to the Rogue Valley. The two exchanged addresses and became pen pals who also occasionally call each other. "I was thinking about taking myself and my mum (mom) over to America this year," Norman said, noting that the plan didn't work out. "I thought this was the next-best thing to have Jerri come visit us in Australia." From the Rogue Valley, Brisbane is 7,195 miles and tomorrow away. It's also late spring in Australia, the perfect time for a vacation. "It's always been my dream to do something like this," Pritt said. "But I couldn't afford it." Norman had called her American friend last Christmas to tell her she was sending her the round-trip ticket. Pritt, who expects to become a grandmother early in the next millennium, hasn't traveled beyond the borders of the United States since she was a child. Her family had lived in Newfoundland for a short time while her father was in the Air Force. "I'm as poor as a church mouse," Pritt said. "Crissty is so sweet. She's just a very special person." Pshaw, retorted Norman, who says she simply wants to show a friend how the other half of the world lives. "We'll be doing some charter fishing and go to a sheep's station (ranch) out West," Norman said. "We'll also be doing some silly things. We'll be having a big party with friends for my mum who is turning 80. "And we're going to give Jerri an Aussie Christmas," she added. "It'll be a bit early, but we wanted her to see how Christmas is celebrated when it's summer." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA