I found a way to celebrate my followers, looking beyond post into their personal life. I look forward to learning knowing more. No follower is safe! No Opt Out!

Bloggers have followers who bring sunshine with every comment, conversation.Van gives me the blessing every time we have a conversation. Not all conversations are funny as a toad. That’s Texan speak if you didn’t understand the reference.

Please give a Huge welcome to Van By The River.   http://www.vanbytheriver.wordpress.com

Here are answers to the questions “only Van” could answer while laughing along with us.

 “First job was as a soda jerk at a local pharmacy. I dipped ice cream, served soft drinks and infrared sandwiches (pre-Microwave). I was 15 and it was a local teen hangout…so, it was fun.”

“Favorite job was probably the one I retired from. Hotel sales manager, but I started on the front desk.I loved the interaction with all kinds of folks, mostly travelers, mostly happy to be there. Maybe the best part was that I left it all there “at the office”. I never had that before, and it was a treat. My other career choices, especially teaching, required a lot of my personal time.”

“Van by the River came because of my affection for the Matt Foley character, always a favorite. It seemed to fit in many ways. I have always lived near water, mostly rivers, but not in a van. His character was a motivational speaker, which was always a dream job for me. My kids knew of my love for SNL characters, and the cartoon van on my avatar came from a t-shirt they gifted me.”

“This is my first blog, but I have always written, kept journals, recorded thoughts and feelings, mostly for myself. I found WP through a piece written by a friend and was intrigued. The year my youngest sister died (2012), I decided to record some family history and transferred a few of those journal entries to the blog. I only posted a short time, and left it until September of 2014, where I came back to post more regularly. The blog started to get noticed when I used tags and categories for the first time.”

“My favorite recipes are the ones that have a story behind them, and I’ve posted about those a bit here on the blog. Clam chowder from a cancer- stricken friend, pie from a co-worker with a tragic history, peach kuchen from my first home economics class, my mother’s home-made pizza crust from a happier time, etc. I also have a lot of potluck recipes, party foods, etc. from a time when social life was going strong…those have sweet memories.”

“I read a lot of blogs, but I like the ones that are personal, where folks share their life story. I can spot a fake pretty easily, authenticity matters to me. I also like the ones that are creative, original, artistic, and most of all…with a sense of humor. I have to say…the shorter posts are my favorites. If it’s 800-1000 words, I’m not going there, usually.”

Here are a couple touching comments Van has left me.

“I was thinking about you M. when a story was featured recently about a young girl who was blessed during the Pope’s visit this past year. She has shown great improvement, some say miraculously since then. But, it turns out, the attention her case received got her additional medical scrutiny. She was actually suffering from Lyme, which had been mis-diagnosed by earlier doctors. Amazing. Hope you are doing well. 💕 Hugs”

“You are counted as in the van if in you leave a like or comment. I hope you enjoyed, more profiles/introductions are planed.”

Van has given me joy when I didn’t have any. She is 100% positive, if not, you need the wake up call. From my heart, there aren’t enough words to say how I value our friendship.

Lyme has taken a toll on my body, I can hardly walk. I have awesome followers, it’s taken longer to roll out introductions. I may walk slow but Lyme will not hold me down long. 

Xx Melinda