Hi folks,
When I first started this blog, I had hoped that I would stick with it for a while. But if you would have told me last September that I’d still be doing this after nearly nine months, I would have been mildly, though pleasantly, surprised. Learning how to schedule blog posts ahead of time was a game changer for me, since I can stay on top of it without the anxiety over when to write and properly time my posts. While that was a revelation, the rest of the blog has been a work in progress. One of the things it was missing was a separate Grandpa’s Letters homepage containing an overview of this project, a brief bio about my grandpa, and a complete list of all of the blog posts I’ve done to date on the subject.

Anyway, today is the “grand opening” of “Grandpa’s Homepage,” which is a single webpage containing introductory information about my grandpa, his letters, and this project, as well as a list of all of the blog posts I’ve written on the topic in order (with links). You can find the link to the new page on my “Current Projects” page, or you can just click here.

In addition, I’ve also gone through all of the previous “Grandpa’s Letters” blog posts and added “Next Entry” links to the bottom of each one, as well as a bar containing links to the previous post, the first post, and the Grandpa’s Letters homepage. That way, if you or someone new to the blog wants to read through the whole thing or just a few posts in order, all you need to do is scroll to the very bottom and click on the URL posted under Next Entry.

I hope that this will make it easier for new and future readers to catch up with the narrative, which is about to enter 1944 (a VERY consequential year for Elmer), while giving everyone else (myself included) a handy index for all of my previous posts.

With that said, if you’re a fan of the blog, please post a link to this new homepage on social media and explain what it is. With everything that’s going on in the United States and in the world today, this project has been a fantastic escape for me and a timely reminder that when we work together and have faith in our collective success Americans (and people in general) are capable of not just overcoming great obstacles, but of using those trials as an opportunity to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Two months ago, I thought my grandpa’s repeated use of “Chins up!” was a bit hokey. Now I think we all understand what he meant by that.

Anyway, if there are any errors, or if there is anything you’d like to add to the new page, please let me know!

Stay well,

Matt