I have a buddy . . . in UPS!

Yes, I do. I realized it this morning. I used work out of my home for almost 5 years, and regularly received packages from the brown truck. (This was before our office became more cyber based, as we now are able to do most, if not all of our work, electronically.) But back in the day (a whole 5 years ago) we would do a lot of mailing of items through UPS. It was natural that the UPS guy became our friend. I say "our", because in those early years, Katie and Ella were right by my side answering the door and receiving packages - since I was lucky to work from home and have the girls with me.

We have had the same delivery guy for years. I don't know his name (I'm a little mad at myself that I haven't asked him), but at somepoint in the past few years I started to refer to him as "BUDDY", and the name kind of stuck. When we (the girls and I) would greet him at the door, they would say, "Hi, Buddy!" and he always responded back with a great big, "Hello, Girls!" and showed such kindness to them. Really a nice guy.

Our deliveries were not always work related. Many a Christmas was saved by the packages delivered by Buddy. I remember one week before Christmas telling him I was waiting for a really special gift to arrive, and he said he'd look out for it. Sure enough, Christmas Eve morning the doorbell rang and there was Buddy with the special package.

During the last year of having the office in the house, our visits with Buddy started to come few and far between. And now that my office has moved out of the house, and to a new location, I rarely get to see Buddy. Except everyonce in a while, as I drive down Gougar Road in the morning. He must have the same schedule each day, because I often see the UPS truck driving by at the same time. He'd always honked his horn, and I would do the same, followed by a nice wave of "Hello!"

It has probably been over 6 months since I've seen Buddy. Today I was driving down Gougar, on the way to work, and wouldn't you know it . . . there came a UPS truck. As the truck approached, I saw Buddy. Sure enough, he recognized our van and honked his horn. I waved back, as did he, and smiled. I started to think about how funny it is that I wave at Buddy. (Then I started thinking, "I wonder if Buddy thinks I'm that crazy lady in the minivan and wishes I'd stop waving at him.") Then I thought about how it's even funnier to hear Katie yell, "Hey, is that Buddy?" at any and every UPS truck that passes us in the street. Ah, well. Whatever it is - Buddy is our buddy, for sure.

Isn't it interesting - how people come in and out of your life? You may not really get to know them, but they become something in your day to day routine that is familar. Think about all of those "same" people you come in contact with throughout your day; the Starbucks barrista, the mail carrier, the gas station attendant, the cashier at Jewel, the person on the treadmill next to you at the gym. You probably see these people more often than you see members of your own family. You don't really know them - but you see them everyday. I'm wondering, do you have any "buddies" in your life?