A Father's Love, A Coffee Can, & 2,000 Quarters

Remember in the year 2000 when the new quarters came out representing each state? At the time I was still in high school, living at home with my parents in Broken Arrow, and loving the perks that came with being the only child.  As the quarters were issued, my Dad decided to collect one from each state and put them into a decorative display for me.  As his collection grew and the new quarters were issued every few months, he decided to not only collect a quarter for the display, but to also collect a roll of quarters for each state.

Ironically, my Mom is a banker and he could easily have gone to her and asked her to get him all of the quarters he needed. Instead, he slowly collected them as they were issued and as he came across them naturally.  Patiently and diligently he checked his pockets each day and looked to see if he had any quarters that were still missing from the collection.  As the years went by and all 50 of the quarters were issued, he eventually had enough to complete the display.  However, collecting enough to make a roll from each individual state was not such an easy task.  As the years continued to pass, I learned of this collection and couldn't believe that he was still patiently collecting these quarters!  He eventually made a list of the states and kept track of how many quarters were still needed for each one.  As our family learned of his endeavor, we all started checking out pockets and purses for any quarters still missing and would give him one or two as we came across them.  As each year passed and the list grew smaller, Dad continued to collect each one as he emptied his pockets.  I am sure that when he started out on this journey of saving money for his daughter that he had no idea how long it would take to complete!

After 13 years and 8 months, Dad sent me a message yesterday letting me know that his collection was finally complete!  You read that right, 13 YEARS!!!!!   How many people do you know that are not only able but also willing to stick with something for that long?  Can you imagine the patience, diligence, love, and time he invested in this?  I am so grateful to know that he loves me so much and that he would continue to save them for me out of pure thoughtfulness!  Anyone that knows me or that knows my Dad is aware that we are very close and that he is the kindest, hardworking, friendly, loving, and most thoughtful person that many people have ever met. Just thinking about his thoughtfulness, patience, consistency, and unfailing love almost brings me to tears... I am so blessed to be his daughter.

While we were at our weekly family dinner last night, he brought me the coffee can filled with 50 rolls of quarters and the display of another 50 quarters that inspired the whole idea.  Each roll has 40 quarters in it and is labeled with the corresponding state... that's 2,000 quarters! That coffee can weighs over 25 pounds! As we discussed what to do with them, I couldn't bring myself to have them cashed in for $500 or to even think of what to spend them on.  I attempted to convince him to keep half of the money for himself but that discussion is still up for debate (anyone surprised? I wasn't!). Some people may think it's silly not to just go out and spend the money like he originally intended, but to me his effort over the last 13 years means more than just the cash value of those quarters.  I am sure that eventually there will be something worth spending them on, but for now I'm still enjoying the pure thought of his goal finally being reached!

I know that most "Daddy's Girls" think that their Dad is one in a million... but I just can't express enough how exceptional mine really is.  Below is a picture of the coffee can and the quarters inside... as you can see he eventually ran out of the paper rolls so he made his own!  Love you Dad... so, so much! <3  Kristi Lynn