Every kid has a hero, and for one little girl in Bloomington, Indiana, that person is her local garbage collector, Delvar Dopson.
Every Thursday morning, Brooklyn waits for Dopson to drive by their house so she can wave to him. And recently, on her birthday, their wave exchange blossomed into something truly special.
“Thursdays are by far her favorite day… garbage day,” Brooklyn’s mom Traci Andracke writes on Facebook. “For about a year now, she has anxiously awaited the garbage truck’s arrival at our house. It started with waving from the window, then we had to try and be outside to wave, and when we missed the truck driving by the house, I’d drive around the neighborhood to find the garbage truck and wave… on our way out the door in the mornings. Every… Thursday, my heart is full when I see the joy that our amazing garbage man brings Brooklyn when he honks and waves at her with a BIG smile.”
“And today, we finally got to meet him!!! Brooklyn and I wrapped up one of her birthday cupcakes and waited for him. When he came down our street, she ran to the corner. We were waving like usual and I motioned for him to come over by us. He pulled over, got out and gave us his BIG smile. Brooklyn was instantly speechless as she handed him the cupcake. I explained to him that he makes our day every Thursday, and we really appreciate the honking and waving, and how special of a day it is for us.”
“Then… (melt my heart)… he explained that he looks forward to seeing us every Thursday as well. He said that he has a meeting every Thursday morning and always tries to get out of there in a hurry so that he can make sure to see us every week. He said he doesn’t have any kids of his own, but he mentors several children and just loves them. I can’t believe that I never got his name, so for now he will continue to be ‘our favorite awesome smiley garbage man.'”
“After he left, we continued onto daycare. Brooklyn was unusually quiet in the backseat. I asked her if she was okay, and she said ‘Mommy, Im so happy.'”
“So… to ‘our favorite awesome smiley garbage man’… THANK YOU!!! Thank you for the joy that you bring Brooklyn every Thursday morning, for making her birthday special, and for making my heart happy. It may be a little thing that you do, but it means so much to us!”
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