Some mothers and their adult daughters are lucky if they see each other a few times a year. For mother-daughter duo Peggy Melvin and Amber Townsend, that is hardly the case.
They see each other every day because they work side by side in the same office in the College of Architecture and Design.
Melvin is an administrative specialist and has worked at UT for almost two and a half years. Her daughter, Townsend, is an accounting assistant and has been with UT for one year.
While Townsend persuaded her parents to move to Tennessee to be closer to their first granddaughter, it was Melvin who encouraged her daughter to apply for the Architecture opening.
“The best part about working together is that I always have a lunch date,” said Townsend.
Melvin agreed: “We have lunch together several times a week.”
Although some mothers and daughters might not enjoy so much together-time, these two are more than OK with it.
“The hardest part about working with my mom is not calling her ‘mom’ in the office,” Townsend said.
Likewise, Melvin said she has to guard against being “momma bear” while they are at work.
Despite the amount of time they see each other at work, the two of them still spend a lot of time together out of the office. Baking, cooking, and hiking are among their shared interests.
“We love hiking, especially in the Smoky Mountains,” said Melvin. “We are hiking toward being a part of the 900-mile club. We have about 700 miles left to go.”