Being a parent is a full-time job. On top of the job you work to afford being a parent. But it’s also a job that comes with the best perks.

One dad is finding out how good those perks are, and it only took 40 years. Texas resident Earl Guynes, now 65, remembers the first days of parenthood well. But the one story he liked to tell his family was about how he sold his 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS to buy diapers for his children.

Earl Guynes said he had to sell his beloved Camaro to afford diapers for his son, Jared. Photo courtesy of the Guynes

So his son found a way to repay him for that “diaper money” – a fully restored version of that Marina blue car that his dad loved so much. Jared Guynes said that he wanted to find the “biggest, most symbolic (and) most outrageous way” to show his dad “how important he is to me and how good of a job he did being a dad.” So, he asked himself: “… What is the greatest thing possible? And it was the Camaro,” Jared said.

It was always the Camaro.”

When Earl was 22 years old and newly married to Mona, he was already a devoted father to her daughter. Then, along came Jason. The growing family, Earl said, meant growing financial responsibilities. Jared said that his dad “made the decisions to sell his beloved (car) knowing the financial needs.”

The Camaro to afford diapers for his son, Jared. Photo courtesy of the Guynes

As the years went by, Earl’s Camaro was a running dad joke. “Anytime that we saw a Camaro, he would definitely bring it up,” Jared said. “The joke was, or the way that he just summed it all up, was that ‘I had to sell this car for your diaper money.’ “I used to tease Jared quite a bit,” Earl said. But Jared knew that behind the jokes was how much Earl had loved that car.

“Even though he would never admit it. “I knew deep down he loved that car more than any other he had ever owned.”

With the original long gone, Jared started searching for the same car. He said his dad had sold his first car for cash, and did not have any proof of sale. But only 70 miles from the family’s home, Jared learned, was a Marina blue Camaro.

Jared had the car restored and decided to surprise Earl on his birthday. The gift was a hit. “He was just overcome,” Jared said. He wrote about the night on Facebook. “I’ve only seen my dad cry two times in my entire life. Dad only smiles, laughs and selflessly gives his best effort in the service of others,” he wrote.

“Tonight, I saw him cry a third time, as he realized the car in parking lot that looked just like his old one, was actually his after all,” Jared said. “(Dad) was shocked. He threw his arms around me. And it was one of the best moments of my entire life.” Jared had one final message for the dad who he said was the best father ever. “I love you, Dad. Thanks for the diaper money.”