Mother’s Day is only a few short weeks away and we felt it just the right time to re-share this story by New Home Specialist, Forest Ranson.  This is a recent Mother’s Day recollection Forrest has shared with his mom.  We hope you enjoy! 

“I’m a big fan of ice cream. Peach, of course.  I guess it runs in the family.  I have fond memories of growing up having Mother’s Day gatherings of extended family picnics in an uncle’s back yard.  One aunt would always bring a canister of just home-made ice-cream; packed in ice and covered with towels to keep it cold.When dessert time came, the unveiling of the ice-cream was eagerly observed by all the children in attendance.  Everyone got a paper cupful and a spoon.  Unlike the other offerings, there was never any ice-cream left over.  Can’t say I remember any of the other perennial dishes at the pot-luck buffet, but I’ll never forget that ice-cream!

Family traditions change over time.  The extended family still gets together at Thanksgiving, but Mother’s Day is now usually our little extended branch, not the whole family tree.  Last year, after sharing Mother’s Day lunch at my mom’s retirement community in Charlotte, we all piled into my sister’s mini-van for a guided tour of Ft Mill.  Although we have been building new homes in Ft Mill for years, my family had never seen it.  So we toured Ft Mill SC, drove the Springfield neighborhood and saw some of the homes we have built. We even greeted a few of our homeowners out walking their dogs to work off their own Mothers’ Day feasts.  We finished up at the Peach Stand on Hwy 160 for, of course, an ice-cream treat.  We enjoyed our ice-cream at an outdoor table while passers-by stopped to great my golden retriever who had come along for the fun.

My mom is the family story-teller.  She likes to re-tell stories until they are familiar and comfortable, like a well worn pair of favorite shoes.  Gathered around the table, she told the one about how, when she was growing up, her family would gather around the big oak tree in their back-yard every summer Sunday afternoon and make homemade peach ice-cream in a well-used hand-cranked ice-cream churn.  She remarked that if she lived in Springfield, she would be at that table every Sunday afternoon, all summer long, enjoying her weekly allowance of ice-cream.  Peach, of course!”

Evans Coghill Homes is a new home builder in the Charlotte, NC area building new homes in River Run, Springfield, Riverwalk, and Cheval.  For more information, visit www.evanscoghill.com.