[July 5, 2023] Granddaughter! Perhaps you are now wondering why I’m writing these letters to you, a growing, beautiful young lady. You are the oldest of my grandchildren. And like your father and like me as your grandfather, we are each the firstborn and with that position comes special privileges and also expectations. While I am confident that your father and mother will help you, I am also responsible for giving you something to treasure and love. In the “old days,” we wrote handwritten letters and put them in the postal system for delivery. Today we text or videoconference. I am doing something in between; I’m writing letters to you electronically through the Internet.
I’ll give you some ideas about life; that is my responsibility and a noble undertaking, and I take that task seriously. And although your parents are doing a great job, there is nothing like a bit of help from the outside. Here I am, your Poppy (your name for me, your paternal grandfather), and I’m ready to do just that. I am writing 365 letters just for you. Others will read them too, so I will be sure not to reveal anything that might embarrass you, but since I know you, that will be no problem. I hope to give you some ideas about the good life using events from my lifetime to the present.
What these events will do is give you lessons that helped me be a good person. No, not the finger-pointing kind of moralistic rules that make you want to puke (like gross anchovies), but the kind of ideas that make you smile, the ideas and ways of living that guarantee you a proper life, a life that attracts good people to you, the kind that some folks call the secret to a good life. And believe me; you do want them. Maybe you don’t know it yet, but you will, and you’ll like it too.
Granddaughter, hold onto your britches, big girl. You’re about to take the ride of your life. A ride into my life. I know that you will be asking yourself how in the world can my Poppy, that old guy who moves real slow, talks with a Southern slang, and walks holding my hand like a mangy tired old dog. How could my Poppy have a life that was anything but stale and boring? Surely, his life is like watching paint dry on the bathroom wall, really slow and anything but thrilling. Do you like a little excitement? I hope so.
365 letters! What in the world could my Poppy find to write to me about that could possibly take so many letters? You might think there is nothing Poppy could write of interest or useful. And perhaps that is true. Maybe if you think that way, you would be just barking up a tree and getting nothing done but wasting your bark. 365 letters, full of the life of the man who’s raised your own Daddy and helped make him the father he is to you. There might be something to the stories explaining your Daddy and why he is so good to you. One day you will treasure these letters. At least, I hope you do.
Now, I have a dog too. And my girl dog, all 90 pounds of muscle and grit, a Yellow Labrador, she keeps me young. I got her at the insistence of your Nonna, my wife and the most gracious and wonderful woman I ever knew. I walk my girl dog twice a day, three miles, all weather, rain, shine, snow, heat, cold, sleet, and at least one tornado going by. Was I scared? No! Never! And here is your first hint at what you will discover in my letters. I ain’t scared of nuttin’.
Then, there is Nonna. I know you love her as well. I’m sure you are attracted to her as you always ask for her when we speak on the phone. Nonna has wonderful traits you can copy and be guaranteed success as a young lady. She also has a particular kind of beauty, very much like the kind of natural beauty you possess. Moreover, Nonna loves you more dearly than ever imagine and wants to hug you close. Call upon her any time. She will always be there, ready to talk and laugh with you. Nonna also helps me be who I am and ensures I do not stray too far away.
Once you read my letters, you will see they are not really about me. Oh, yes, I’m in the stories. Every one of them. But these letters are stories about how to live, about how to “really” live with your eyes wide open. These letters also help you not follow the false narratives pushed on young folks today or the false idols and quasi-religions of those who falsely believe they are saviors of the world, those who believe they know best and who think they are superior to everyone. These false prophets go by many names. Do not be confused by them or misled.
I will tell a story in each letter. There is a lesson to learn from each or two: living, good times, freedom, duty, and fulfillment. Sometimes the letter tells about tragedy or evil; these two are distinguishable, and you will see that difference. You will find in each the idea that life is both good and tragic and life sometimes deals us a difficult hand to play in life, but what makes life all worthwhile is that you can find yourself to be a good girl by adopting responsibility and telling the brutal truth, always the truth.
Okay, let’s get on with it.
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Please read my books:
Wow, great series of letters. I know your granddaughter will be proud of these letters.
Excellent job sir. Your hard work taken time out of your busy day to write your precious granddaughter a letter is love ❤️. She can read a letter a day to reflect on your leadership qualities. She can passed along to her children Your life can continue to live through them. God told Moses to place a rock on the shore of the Red Sea as a reminder to the people it was the mighty hand of God that brought them out of bondage of Pharaoh King of Egypt to thr promise land. God parted the water the people crossed on dry land. When the last Israelites was on dry lsbd God caused the sea to close killing all Pharaoh men and him.
365 letters that is a lot.
Ambitious!!!!!!!!
Don’t ya just love ❤ a great letter?
Now this is some great advice and I am looking forward to reading how to do it.
“But these letters are stories about how to live, about how to “really” live with your eyes wide open. These letters also help you not follow the false narratives pushed on young folks today or the false idols and quasi-religions of those who falsely believe they are saviors of the world, those who believe they know best and who think they are superior to everyone. These false prophets go by many names. Do not be confused by them or misled.” – Gen. Satterfield to his granddaughter.
I was thinking the same thing. The sooner Gen. S. writes this part, the better.
Gen. Satterfield is very anti-Woke. He is the antithesis of wokeness. He has written a number of articles on the destructiveness of woke ideology and I absolutely love it when he does it. Crushes the wokesters every time.
“crushes” them, yepper
Okay, let’s get on with it. YEP!!!!!!!!!
😎👀😊😁💖✔👍🤣😜😍
Again, thank you Gen. Satterfield for your wonderful blog.
Keep this series going. I’m also interested in learning about the boy who became an army general.
Great to hear from you again, Peigin. Has been a while. I will add that most of us here will also like to know a bit more about Gen. Satterfield as a boy. What is it that made him who he is today? Is it his motivation? Is it something or someone who helped him along the way? Maybe yes or maybe no, the issue here for us is to figure it out. But these letters to his granddaughter will be a window into that world we all want to know more about. Also, if you really want to get a good look, the read “55 Rules for a Good Life.” That will push you to want to be a better person and HOW to do it.
Yes, Max, got my copy. I hope that everyone gives Gen. Satterfield a review on Amazon, it is the least we can do.
Great article, Gen. Satterfield. Thank you…. loving the entire series.
❤❤❤❤❤❤
The distance between generations is too large. At one time, not too far in the past, your grandparents were only about 20 years older than you parents who were only 20 years older than you. That meant they could help you and show you want mature men and women were like. No longer. Now, Gen. Satterfield is showing us how to cross that large gap in years with letters to his granddaughter.
Yes, and that may be the only way today because too much of our young folk’s time is taken up in unproductive and misleading watching of gross tv and social media.
Social media helps turn girls into ho’s.
Wow, nice intro. I’m sure your granddaughter will be very happy with your 365 letters. Keep them coming our way, Gen. Satterfield and be sure to turn them into a book at some point.
And more than ladies are interested in reading them.
As it should be. Maybe some ‘girls’ should read these letters to learn how to become ladies.
I was thinking the same thing and you beat me to the comment, Maureen. I just wonder if our great experience could be translated to children today, how much better our world would be instead of them listening to stupid tiktoc videos.
Nailed it Bernie. ✔