Welcome New Readers!

Senior Share Project has been seeing some momentum, recently, and we'd like to thank you all for stopping by. We've recently been lucky enough to have received TWO online reviews!

The first review is over at Blog Search Engine. No matter what your interests, you will be sure to find something to read here, and without the hassle of weeding through a general search on Google or Yahoo. Blog Search Engine is a listing site with ratings and reviews on all kinds of blogs. Please click on the picture below to go to our review, and once there, click on the stars to rate it, "like" it on Facebook or Tweet it to your followers - that will help us get ratings and even more exposure:

Our second review is over at BloggyAward.com! BloggyAward.com is a site that visits hundreds of blogs a year, and rates them based on the following criteria: Visual Aesthetics, User Friendliness, Reading Enjoyment and Useful Info. Based on ratings and what you like to read, BloggyAward.com is a great site to sift through, and find more blogs to visit. 

It's also great feedback for us, because with an outside opinion, we are able to make some changes to our blog, like implementing a label navigation bar (coming soon!)

Senior Share Project received a score of 9 out of 10!! Thank You, BloggyAward.com!

Click this picture to go to our review:

We are so thankful to have this coverage and recognition. But, the most important ingredient of Senior Share Project is YOU, our readers. We don't exist without your stories. 

Maybe the first time you visited our site, you had a little story in the back of your mind that you were reminded of when reading what others have written. 

• Did your parent or grandparent emigrate to the United States from a foreign country, like Carla Carozza's dad, Vince? 
• Do you laugh everytime you think of your favorite aunt, or when you remember a lesson your mom taught you, like Jeanette Kahwaji's Aunt, Winnie the Witch or Joe Finnerty's grape jelly fiasco? 
• How about growing up in the country like Lorene Hoover from Iowa, Holly Klapper from Northern Michigan, or Gordon Fredrickson from Minnesota?
• Did you sneak a radio into school so you could listen to the World Series, like Marty Roselius?

You know there's a story inside you. We want to hear it. Send it to us today! We'd love to hear from our international readers, too!

seniorshareproject@gmail.com

Thank you! Heidi and Eileen

P.S. Coming soon to SSP: Video interviews! Check back, or better yet, subscribe! 

Childhood Summers in Northern Michigan

by Holly Klapper

The constant beckoning of the outdoors was almost too much to take when you had chores to do inside.  Just the second our chores were given mother’s approval out the screen door we ran; with a loud slam.  Usually this was followed by a faintly heard reprimand from mother.  We were already halfway across the yard.  There were so many things to explore in the outdoors.  There were streams to cool your hot feet in, perfect trees for making  rope swings, beautiful Mayflowers and sometimes mushrooms or wild berries to proudly take back to mom.

The air was always filled with the smell of fresh cut grass in the summer.  My favorite times were when the Aunts and their children came over.  We had long picnic tables in the yard and would help our moms shuck bushel after bushel of corn.  It was canning time.  After a few complaints they would usually let us stray off and play hide and seek or kick the can.  Red Rover was another favorite.  We also enjoyed taking one of Grandmother’s strong old quilts and holding the edges carefully, while tossing one of the smaller children in the air.  Oh the giggles caused by that!   A good wheelbarrow could keep us entertained for a good while, taking turns pushing each other.

On special occasions we could persuade mom to take us to the lake for a swim.  I always liked to go in slowly, as it was very cold.  The tiny fish would come and nibble on your toes.  My, how that tickled.  We would have contests walking on our hands and doing flips in the water.  My favorite lake had a few logs floating in the water for our amusement.  We, of course, had to see who could stay on the longest.  Not an easy feat.  The most fun of all for me was when we got to stay until it was dark and make a fire.  Usually the marshmallows were brought out.  The search for the perfect stick could last 20 minutes!  Everything was a competition.

A couple times in the summer we would have company over and dad would make homemade ice cream in the yard.  This was no small endeavor.  I don’t know for sure how long it truly took him.  But, to a child waiting for ice cream, it seemed like five hours.   There were wild strawberry patches and rhubarb grew wild too.  But, the best picking was out of my dad and Grandpa’s garden.  They  grew grapes, raspberries and blackberries.  Summers always meant sticky fingers and red stained t-shirts.  We were truly blessed.