Social media has changed everything about the way we interact. Gone are the days of the distant pen pal. Now if we have a friend from another part of the world – or even from another generation – our interactions with them are no different than if they lived down the street.

No one knows that better than Milwaukeean Christina Wright. Last August, the writer and graduate student read an article on BuzzFeed which featured a video of 102-year-old Ella Kastner of Germany informing Mark Zuckerburg that she was the oldest member on his site. 

"I thought, wow. First of all, it’s amazing that you’re 102 and you’re on Facebook, but also to kind of like put it out there and call out Zuckerburg – I thought it was pretty interesting," recalls Wright. "So I said, I should friend her."

She sent Kastner a friend request, which was instantly accepted. The two struck up a correspondence online, and Wright sent her a postcard at Christmas, and got one back of Kastner in a Christmas sweater in front of a tree, which Wright still has on her refrigerator. The two discovered that, despite being decades and countries apart, they had a lot in common – not least of which was a love of travel.

"I started looking at her page and clicking around and everything, and I saw that she’s pretty amazing. She’s not a person who is just sitting around in her house just waiting. She travels all the time," says Wright. "For her 100th birthday she and her family traveled around Asia. Every birthday they do some big trip – they’ve been all over Europe, they’ve been to the United States. It was such an inspiration to see someone still doing that."

At this same time, also on Facebook, Wright learned of the Bucket List Initiative. This grant project on PassionPassport.com offers applicants the opportunity to realize their wildest travel dreams. Candidates submit travel proposals, finalists are selected, and an online community votes during a 10-day period to choose the winner of a minimum $1,000 grant.

When she entered the contest it was a no-brainer for Wright to choose a visit to Ella Kastner for her proposal.

"There are a lot of places I still want to travel, but this is a little bit different," she says. "This is more about wanting to take this interesting multi-generational friendship from online to offline."

After she was selected as one of the three finalists, Wright initiated an all-out social media assault for votes. Kastner also campaigned for her American friend, courting votes among her large international pool of admirers.

"Last summer she went to Eurovision in Azerbaijan, and there’s video of her dancing at the festival to techno music with this 20-year-old kid named Kumal. He friended me, too, so I had this guy in Azerbaijan posting, I had people in Canada, people all over Germany saying please vote for her, please vote for her," says Wright. "I don’t think it was just because they were asking them to vote for me – I think people were reading about it and saying wow, this is pretty interesting. I think I would this would be a great story and a great opportunity. People were feeling something about the story."

Not surprisingly, Wright won the contest and in late April made the 10-hour flight to Berlin, to be greeted at the airport by a familiar face.

"I had a sinus infection the week before – of course – so I’m flying all the way over there, I’m not feeling that good, I’m taking antibiotics, I’m tired, I’m disoriented, I get my bag and I walk out and Ella’s sitting there with this sign that says ‘Welcome Christina’ and has a little bouquet of flowers and a little teddy bear. It was very, very sweet," says Wright. She wrote on her blog of the trip that "It was the nicest airport reception that I’ve ever had and I’ll never forget it."

Kastner and her grandson Jo, who cares for her, showed Wright the sights over the next ten days. She blogged the entire trip for PassionPassport, detailing the threesome’s exploits as they entered a Dirndl Queen competition, visited Nuremberg, feasted on Bavarian cuisine and toured Kastner’s hometown of Amberg (where they met the burgermeister, or mayor).

Kastner doesn't speak English, but her grandson translated for her and she was able to communicate perfectly with Wright, who describes her as a happy woman with a sharp wit who flirts with young men, loves children and new friends, is devoutly religious and "lives in the moment."

"I know it’s a cliche thing to say, but she lives in the moment," she says. "And that is also what Jo strives for her to do, is to live in the moment. Her personality and her attitude is don’t sit around and regret things. Don’t say I should have done this or I’m not doing the right thing. Live in the moment, enjoy the moment, be happy with yourself and always have a smile on your face. You can tell that’s what she does."

Even at her old age and suffering from the beginning stages of dementia, Kastner amazed Wright with her friendliness towards strangers and her ready desire to try new things. Wright has always been an avid swimmer and though Kastner cannot swim herself, she was more than happy to give it a try once outfitted with water wings by her grandson.

"His level of care for her is astounding; nothing is ever left to chance," Wright wrote. Later that day, the group visited the Fruhlingfest (Spring Festival) in Munich, rode down the giant slide, and danced with the zombies at the haunted house.

During their travels they were frequently interviewed by media.

"Ella and I are now even more famous in Bavaria–Kelheim's mayor and a journalist from the Mittelbayerische Newspaper met us in the center of the town," Wright wrote when they visited Kelheim, a town on the banks of the Danube. "This multi-generational Facebook friendship is truly something special. Upon hearing the story each person thinks that Ella and I are both crazy and inspiring. Maybe we are, but we wouldn’t have it any other way."

The two shared an emotional good-bye and Wright returned to her life here in Milwaukee. But she is forever changed by the inimitable Ella Kastner.

"I kept saying to my boyfriend, I wouldn’t know this person if it weren’t for social media," Wright says. "How would I know a 103 year old lady in Germany? I wouldn’t. So that’s amazing."

And who knows, maybe Kastner will come visit her. Wright says she would fit right in in Brew City.

"She loves traveling and she loves meeting new people," she said. "If she came to Milwaukee, first of all she would fit in because she could wear her dirndl. You could take her to Old German Beer Hall, to Mader’s and she would feel really at home. But she would also want to learn about Milwaukee and she would be eager to take it all in."