“Whoa, what have we got here?” Daddy Cliff asked as he made a ceremony of pulling a heavy rectangle out of the paper bag. “It’s your Father’s Day card!” Joel exclaimed, looking at his dad’s face, smiling from ear to ear. Eyeballing the odd card, Dad fingered the circle with rivets on the front of the card. “Why, that’s looks a part you’ve taken from our old lawnmower. Maybe a piston cover? You must have been digging around in the garage to find that old relic, son!” “Yeah, you have a lot of stuff out there. It wasn’t hard to find pop rivets. And, look, Dad, I made the front cover from a scrap of the top of your old ’71 Ford van, when they put a vent in––the van we had when the whole family traveled with the art show when Crista and I were little. Wiggling the hinge open a few extra times for full effect, Dad opened the card and read “To a very special Dad that can appreciate a few rivets here and there.” And then on the right side, where Joel had sprayed a section of the metal white, he read, “To a Father whom I greatly appreciate. Happy Father’s Day! And under it, a second signature: “Love, your daughter Crista.”

Then Dad scrutinized the tiny photo on the front, “Where did you find that?” looking at a thumbnail of Joel snorkeling with his dad in the lake close to our house in Killarney. “You know Mom has lots of photo albums. I hope she doesn’t mind that I cut out a snapshot for your card.” Inside there was more: a tiny cutout of Joel on an inner tube and Crista beside him in the lake. Turning to the back, “Why you even made up a card name ~ METALLIC GREETINGS. I like it!” Father reached out and hugged his son, “Thank you, that’s a clever card you made . . . and with your very own hands. I know you spent a lot of time on this.” “Oh, by the way, did you put the tools back? Do you think I can I find my drill again?” With a sheepish grin, Joel quipped a quick, “Well, I hope so,” as he scurried out of the house and jumped on his bike.  

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Two years later: Joel in raft, Crista wearing life jacket and friend with golden lab at the dock

 

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Have you made or received a unique card from someone?

Have you made a point of saving any special cards?

Instead of sending cards via the post office, do you use online greetings?