I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!!! Today I had my toddler son outside and the ice cream man appeared in his musical truck! My son had never purchased anything from the ice cream man before, so we hurried inside and got some money to purchase a cool tasty treat.

Now, I haven’t purchased ice cream from the ice cream man in many years! The first thing I noticed was the prices!! What a hike! The cheapest was $1.50 and the most expensive was $4.00!!! The ice cream man suggested I purchase the cheapest item for my son since it was popular for kids his age! It was a small container of popsicle pellets in a rainbow of fruit flavors. He ate them all, and as we were sitting outside, and he was eating his fruity treat, I couldn’t help but recall the fond memories I’d had as a child when I purchased fare from the ice cream man!

We’d hear that bell ringing throughout the neighborhood, and we’d yell, “Mom, it’s the ice cream man!!” We’d jump around, get excited, want to get our money to go out there and get a popsicle or an ice cream bar. I remember that I loved the Good Humor Chocolate Eclairs, Strawberry Shortcakes, and Toasted Almonds. I also loved to get a plain vanilla or a plain chocolate ice cream bar enrobed in a chocolate shell! Yum! I always preferred ice cream over popsicles, though. I remember a popular treat with some of my friends was a Bomb Pop. It was red white and blue! Also, I recall another popsicle-like treat that my friends enjoyed that was shaped like a cone, and there was a ball of bubble gum at the bottom of the cone!

Just going out to the ice cream truck with my son tapped into some nostalgic memories for me! These are the kind of wonderful, sweet emotions we need to tap into and then translate into the stories we create!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com