When I was sitting in that cell, knowing that my site’s traffic was circling the drain, I wondered if I could still do this for a living. I wondered if people would come back and read my musings. A large part of me, the negative part of me, said it was hopeless. That evil asshole told me that I was certain to make a fool of myself.

You’re never going to reach the heights you once did. There’s no sense in deluding yourself. Just give it up.

I didn’t give up, though. I came back out and started doing the things I’ve always done. A post here, and a post there. The direct traffic to the site was down, and it’s still down, from where it once was. Still, slowly but surely, some of my writing started taking hold. The people who liked me back in the day still liked me. Several posts have taken off, including a write-up I did earlier today. Even though I haven’t been able to throw myself into my work as deeply as I had planned, due to struggles with the health of my mother, I’ve been here. And the returns from the month of March have convinced me that the negative asshole in my mind all those weeks and months in Loudoun County was wrong.

TheRalphRetort.com still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

March 2018 is the biggest month in terms of traffic and discussion since June of 2017, the month that I had to leave. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not where I want to be. Everything isn’t back just yet. However, this comeback has gone better than I could have ever imagined. As a result, I wanted to come here and thank all of you. It is impossible to put my gratitude into words, but I’m trying. Thank you for your continued support, even in the face of personal failings that took me out of the game for 8 months. This could have been the end of the line for me, but instead, it feels like a new beginning.

There’s a lot of work left to be done. Mainly, I want to put out more content. That’s pretty much the key factor for any blogger or YouTuber. It’s going to happen. Things will eventually settle down in my personal life. But the month of March has shown me that I am so lucky to have you as friends, readers, and family. When I was alone with myself, wondering if this could be done again, I doubted. Now, I do not.

Thank you once again, from the bottom of my heart.

Onwards and upwards.