GOSHEN, Ind. — “Whoops! Wrong number” led to oft-dialed digits and an unexpected friendship for two telephonic pen pals.

It was in the wee morning hours on a Thursday nearly a decade ago when Barbara Lewallen of Goshen, Indiana answered her phone.

On the other end of the line, Kellie Malone was attempting to phone Elkhart General Hospital in Indiana to speak to her dad, Fred Curtis, of Nappanee, Indiana, before his scheduled surgery.

Malone was living in Tucson, Arizona, and with a three-hour time difference, Lewallen’s phone rang at 1:30 a.m.

“I wrote down the time on a yellow legal pad when Kellie called and everything we talked about,” Lewallen said. “My husband (the late Larry Lewallen) told me later we talked for an hour and 23 minutes.”

Malone described her end of the first conversation during a recent phone interview.

“A very nice person answered the phone and after I asked for my dad’s room number, I started talking away and we were just off and running,” Malone said. “We just talked and talked like the oldest of friends. I grew up in Nappanee, and we got to talking about that.”

Lewallen kept up the practice of writing down the highlights of their conversations plus the beginning and end time of each phone call. She has filled nearly a dozen legal pads since that first conversation Jan. 25, 2007.

“It was like an instant connection and we still can’t believe it after all these years,” Lewallen said. “We talk about everything. During the years, we’ve called each other several times a day, sometimes every day and then there will be times we’ll talk several times a week.”

The two friends didn’t meet in person until the summer of 2012, although Malone says her husband, Brian Malone, stayed with the Lewallen’s in 2008 while traveling to Chicago for his job. The Malones now live in South Bend, Indiana, so the friends have an opportunity to talk in person on occasion.

For Malone, the closeness of their long-distance friendship has meant that she feels free to call Lewallen at any time of the day or night, especially when Malone struggles with health issues after being paralyzed from a car crash before the two women met.

“It’s the most unique relationship I’ve ever had. We talk about everything. There is nothing that I can’t tell her, honestly,” Malone said, growing emotional as she spoke. “It’s like having a mom and a best friend at the same time. There’s no one else I can trust more. She is an example of love, acceptance and compassion for other people. She’s always solid, always there no matter what. We are close and it’s like a wonderful 10-year maternal love story. I don’t know what I would do without her. I am the adopted daughter and I call her my second mom.”

Arsdail writes for the Goshen, Indiana news.