Matthew Smith with Walter Breuning from Montana, the "Oldest Man on Earth."

After local author Matthew Ross Smith wrote a short story called “The Spaces Between Your Fingers”, loosely based on his own relationship with his grandfather, who had Alzheimer’s, he had an epiphany. What if he traveled across America and collected the wisdom of generations? What one piece of advice would a single person choose to pass down to their children? So Smith started driving. He reached out to people of all ages and all backgrounds with a simple postcard that they could then mail back to him with their advice and a tracing of their handprint. Along his journey, he spoke with hundred of people — including the oldest man on earth, Walter Breuning. Smith hopes to display some of the postcards in a future book, but in the meantime, he’s hard at work raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease.

To learn more about The Spaces Between Your Fingers project, take a look at this neat video Matt made, or visit the website. And if you’re a teacher interested in involving your parents in the project, click here.

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