Brooklyn Andracke is a big fan of her garbage man, who always honks the truck's horn and waves when passing her house every Thursday morning.
Scratch that. She's a MASSIVE fan. Delvar Dopson is essentially her hero.
“To Brooklyn, he is our favorite awesome smiley garbage man,” her mother, Traci Andracke, told The Huffington Post.
Brooklyn's fascination with Dopson started because his truck would drive by their house in Bloomington, Illinois, every Thursday right around the time Andracke and Brooklyn were leaving for daycare.
When the pair started going outside to see the truck, instead of watching it from inside the house, Brooklyn noticed Dopson driving the massive vehicle.
“It became all about him after that,” Andracke said. “It wasn't the ‘garbage truck’ anymore, but it was the ‘garbage man’ that she wanted to see.”
So on April 7, when Brooklyn turned 3, the tot decided she wanted to share part of her big day with him. She patiently waited outside her home until Dopson pulled onto their street. When Andracke motioned for Dopson to stop the garbage truck, Brooklyn presented him with one of her birthday cupcakes.
“As a mom, I can't even describe how happy it made me that she got to finally meet him,” Andracke told HuffPost. “She was literally starstruck and could not even say a word. I had to do all of the talking for her. And she is never usually short on words.”
Dopson was "instantly speechless," Andracke said in a message she sent to the city of Bloomington, which officials later shared on Facebook and has now gone viral.
"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," she added. "After he left, we continued on to daycare. Brooklyn was unusually quiet in the backseat. I asked her if she was okay, and she said, 'Mommy, I'm so happy.'"
The following week, Dopson returned for his refuse-collecting round and gave Brooklyn a belated birthday present: toys from her favorite movie, "Frozen." In return, Brooklyn made him a thank you note, which he's since displayed with pride in his truck.
Andracke told The Pantagraph her family was "blown away" by the level of attention her daughter and Dopson had received.
"I'd love for people to remember that a small gesture -- a honk, wave, smile -- doesn't take much effort. Just do it. Spend an extra second helping someone or flashing a smile," the mom told HuffPost. "You never know who is on the receiving end of that smile and how it can really brighten their day."
This story has been updated to include comments from Traci Andracke.