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Garbage man becomes Secret Santa for toddler who waves at him every week

"He was just in shock and awe of who it came from," Rachel Murray said.

MISSOURI CITY, Texas — For 2-year-old Aiden, life doesn’t get much better than this.

"Garbage truck," Aiden said, standing outside his home.

Those two little words. That one big truck. The second Aiden hears it, he heads straight to the sidewalk where he waits just to wave.

Aiden’s obsessed with the garbage man. He even dressed as him for Halloween, wearing that neon vest and matching beanie almost every day since.

It’s his tradition every Tuesday and every Friday.

“When we can, to see the garbage man and wave and he honks back, so it is part of our routine, and he looks forward to that," said Rachel Murray, Aiden's mom.

But now they know Aiden's not the only one who looks forward to it.

“No note, no card, no anything to indicate that it came from him, so he wanted it to be a surprise," Murray said.

It was an unexpected surprise on Christmas Eve.

“I thought it was an Amazon Christmas package on the porch," Murray said.

Wrapped in paper, Murray soon realized that package was a present.

“They didn’t knock on the door, or come give it to us personally, so Saul said, 'Let me check the ring doorbell camera,' and when he checked it, he had to watch it twice. He was just in shock and awe of who it came from," Murray said.

In awe that Aiden’s Secret Santa was also the hero behind the honks.

“It meant a lot, because who does that? Who just buys a kid that you see occasionally a gift for Christmas to kind of brighten his day and make his Christmas extra special this year?" Murray said.

Aiden unwrapped that gift on Christmas morning: a garbage truck of his very own.

That garbage man, Jose Pleites, works for WCA Waste Corporation. We've reached out to Pleites on why he wanted to give Aiden a gift, and here's how he responded: 

“The boy and his mom are always there to greet me with a great smile every time I pick up their trash, and it gives me joy to know they are waiting for me to drive by. It is something I look forward to on my route," Pleites said. 

WCA also released a statement, “We are so proud of our truck driver Jose Pleites. Despite being one of the most demanding jobs in America, there is always time during the holidays to show love towards those who appreciate what we do.

"We were delighted to hear that our employee would take the independent initiative to make Aiden’s holiday a little brighter."

Aiden and his parents plan to bake cookies for Pleites as a way to say thank you.

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