My dad

My dad was friends with the UPS guy. I don't mean he had a friend who was a UPS guy. He was friends with the UPS guy.

I remember being a kid and hearing, on what seemed like a daily basis, the *beep beep beep beep beep* of a truck backing up our driveway. Once or twice during the summer, a birthday box for me or my brother would be arriving. But most of the time it would be a new tool for my dad's workshop.

And I remember going out there and seeing him, box tucked up under one arm or set protectively at his feet, one foot on the fender of the UPS truck, just chatting away with this guy he wouldn't have otherwise had any reason to meet. I don't know what they talked about exactly, but I'm pretty sure the UPS guy was married and had at least one little kid. My dad would know.

He's that kind of guy.

My dad is a fireman and a carpenter, and those two things somehow seem to say so very much about him - to me. He is a hero, and he is honest, and he works hard, and whenever I smell diesel and rubber or sawdust and varnish or soap and sun tea, I think of him.

I don't think he knows just how golden he is.

All he sees is the stormy temper and the blue collar, and I suspect that he thinks those things just about sum him up. It's both endearing and tragic, really. If he knew, he wouldn't be as real and humble as he is. But not knowing, I think, causes him more pain than he ought to carry.

He is the sort of guy who can chat up the UPS guy and end up with a friend. He cares about people and somehow often manages to get to the bottom of them, finds out what makes them tick, and sets them in motion. He's a cool guy to have in a church. He's a cool guy to have in your corner. I think this key is this: he really cares, and I'm not sure that's as common a characteristic as we would wish.

I wish you knew my dad. And if you do, I wish you knew him better. I know I do. Not that he's a stranger by any means - he's not one of this distant dads. But you know those people who you like more and more the more you know them?

He's that kind of guy.

Happy Father's Day Dad.