Garbage man plays secret Santa for boy, 2, who greets him every trash day

A garbage man in Texas left a holiday surprise Tuesday for a 2-year-old boy who enthusiastically greets him every trash day, according to the boy’s family.

Every Tuesday and Friday, Aiden makes a habit of frantically waving hello to the garbage man who serves his neighborhood in Missouri City, the Houston Chronicle reported. His father, Sgt. Saul Luera, of the Missouri City Police Department, said in a Facebook post that Aiden "loves big trucks of all" kinds.

"We just moved into this house in August," Aiden's mother, Rachel Murray, told KTRK-TV. "So it's only been a few months, but he has absolutely fallen in love with the garbage truck. He knows the sound of the garbage truck, and as soon as he hears it on Tuesdays on Fridays, he gets very excited."

Murray told the Chronicle that Aiden wasn't yet dressed when the garbage truck stopped in front of their home on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, but she said he still pointed out the truck to her. She later noticed a gift bag stuffed with tissue paper on the family's front porch, according to the Chronicle.

The package gift bag had no name on it to indicate who it was from, according to KTRK-TV. At first, Murray told the Chronicle she thought it might have been a package delivery or left by a neighbor. However, when Luera checked footage from the family's Ring doorbell camera, they spotted the garbage man putting out the gift for Aiden.

"He had to watch it twice," Murray told the Chronicle. "I don't even know the man's name, but I think it's really sweet that he thought of (Aiden) for Christmas."

Luera shared a photo taken from the Ring camera footage Tuesday on Facebook.

"All is not lost in this world and in my profession, I don't see a lot of acts of kindness like this," he wrote. "I want to wish this man and his family a Merry Christmas. Thank you for the gift you left my little one. May god bless you."

Murray told the Chronicle she and Aiden plan to make Christmas cookies to give to the garbage man Friday to thank him for his thoughtfulness.

"It meant a lot to us, this very small act of kindness," Murray told KTRK-TV. "It just meant the world."

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