Throughout the incredible changes in the area over the past thirty years, Daniel L. Graham has been a constant. If he seems as dependable as the U.S. Mail, it's because he is the USPS.

A letter carrier for the Marine Hills neighborhood for the past 28 years, Graham is retiring at the end of the month after delivering mail to generations of Federal Way residents.

"I've seen it all," said Graham, looking back on a career that spanned nearly three decades. "Dogs bit me, that's not just a clich/.

"One time on my route," Graham recalled, "a bee got up my pants and stung me seven times."

"I had to take my pants off right there," Graham laughed.

As a mail carrier, he's delivered some of Federal Way's most interesting packages.

"One of the strangest things I saw was someone mailed chickens, live chicks in a box," Graham said.

"People also quite often mail fish," he added, "which is pretty unpleasant when it gets to me."

Born in Peoria, Illinois, Graham was drafted to the Army in 1963 and stationed at Fort Lewis. When he tagged along with a friend to a church service in Tacoma, he met the woman who would become his wife, Dottie.

Now after 40 years of marriage, and 40 and one-half years of service with the United State Postal Service, he and Dottie are jetting off to Hawaii for five weeks in February.

Graham is laying his blue uniform aside.

"When I started, there was no Federal Way post office, all mail went through Auburn," Graham recalled. "We walked all of our routes," he said.

"Most of Federal Way was just fields and trees. And there was only two high schools here," Graham said.

The Grahams raised three children here, who all attended Federal Way High School. His son Danny coaches baseball at FWHS. Daughter Michelle lives in Denver and Grace is in northeast Tacoma.

Eager to spend more time with his nine grandsons, two granddaughters and one great-grandson, Graham will also be dabbling in some part time ushering at Safeco Field for the Mariners.

When asked about changes in the type of mail over the years, Graham reminisced about the amount of Christmas cards people used to send out, as opposed to today, now that email is so prevalent. And the amount of junk mail has skyrocketed. Despite the increase in bulk, he's still very pleased to deliver personal letters, something that hasn't changed that much over the years.

Graham also praised his employer.

"I think the Federal Way Post Office is the best in the country. My colleagues are so caring, so dedicated."

Since he's been such a familiar sight to Marine Hills residents, he's become part of many families. The holiday seasons have been good to him, with residents showering him with gift certificates and cookies.

"One couldn't ask for better people to deliver to," he said, thanking his customers for years of generosity.

His coworkers are throwing him a party January 27, and his wife is organizing a commemorative event February 4 at the Bible Fellowship Church in Federal Way.

"When I started as a mail carrier in Illinois, one time it was minus 10 degrees and foot of snow. That's one of the reasons Dottie and I decided to move to the Northwest," said Graham.

"I just love the Pacific Northwest."