Genealogy Research Iceberg created by Elizabeth Gorrell

Thanksgiving seems so very long ago at this point. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I wrote my first blog post. Fourteen weeks later and another Friday, I am posting my 100^th blog. I would say that I have transcribed and posted about 100 letters. The first couple of blog posts were not about the letters. I had a couple of days in which I doubled up letters. Therefore, I have posted about 100 letters. I suppose I could actually sit down and count the letters but I would rather estimate. One of my long term goals is to make a catalog of all the letters. Looking out across the piles and binders, I am still not at that point. I’m really not sure how many letters there are in total. My original estimate was 500, but I think I may need to redo that figure. If both my grandparents were writing to each other, mostly every day, for the entire year of 1943, how many letters do you think that would be? That excludes the letters from 1942 and 1944. So one hundred letters or blog posts may seem like a momentous figure, and don’t get me wrong, I think it is awesome that I have managed to discipline myself enough to complete the task so far. Looking ahead, however, one hundred seems to be the tip of one mighty big paper iceberg.

Letter transcription:

Kentland Ind
Sept 9-1942

Dear Daddy-

Had a letter from Ruthie this morning. There had been a truck driver in Flora telling them I was in St. E. hospital with a 7 ½ lb baby girl. They called the hospital and were told I wasn’t there. I just wonder who the truck driver was. He said it was in the paper but he was certainly wrong because I look the Kentland papers over rather thoroughly and my name hasn’t been in the papers recently. Ruthie says Floyd is so busy now he sometimes gets to sleep only two hours.

(page 2) They are in Bluffton today. He is still taking care of that territory.
Lucile went to Lafayette yesterday and I had her talk to Dr. Cole for me. He called me Sat night and said for me to go on to the hospital. I told him then I couldn’t leave until Mon. and I have given myself two Vit B shots by then and was feeling better. Mon morning I took 1 cc of reticulogen (which caused an awful sore bump) and I had Lucile tell him what I was doing for myself. He was well pleased about the whole thing and said for me to take two shots a week. So maybe now I will be able to get up

(page 3) some before I have to go to the hospital for the big event. I do get up some but not for long at one time. I soon get tired and am getting so heavy I feel uncomfortable after being up.
Sunday was your Mother’s birthday and I completely forgot about it. Ruthie forgot it too. And mentioned it in her letter. I will send the boys to town this afternoon to get an apology card and something for a gift if I can think of anything suitable. I had thought about her birthday last month but since I have been in bed, it slipped my mind entirely.

(page 4) Mark has an airplane ready for me to cover. I promised him I would do the job for him if I felt like it. I think I’ll wait until he comes home this evening and show him how to do it so he can do them himself after this.
Since John rec’d a diary for his birthday he has been writing in it rather faithfully. He had a time trying to impress Mark with the fact that it was private and not to be read by anyone else.
Mother is downstairs getting dinner. I will be glad when I feel like going downstairs. She makes so many trips up here I am afraid she will wear herself out.

Love Mother