This is one friendship that's thrice as nice.
Triplets Heaton, Wilder and Holden have developed the sweetest bond with garbage men Andrew Black, Rob Whitmore and Chad Cover. So much so that the 2-year-olds, who live in Florida, look forward to the weekly "garb days," (or garbage days), to spend time with their treasured friends.
A video of an interaction between the triplets and their sanitation worker friends made the internet smile after it was shared on Facebook by the kids' mom, WFTV anchor Martha Sugalski.
“We’ve been doing this for over two and a half years,” Sugalski told BuzzFeed News. “Over time, it’s just really become a caring, close friendship with these guys.”
Every Tuesday and Friday, the garbage truck comes by the triplets' house. The men are then greeted by the excited toddlers, shouting out their names, the mom explained to BuzzFeed News. They spend about 10-15 minutes together, high-fiving, fist-bumping, and catching up on the latest going on in the workers' lives.
"Mr. Rob just got married," Sugalski told Inside Edition, describing a recent conversation she had with the men. "And Mr. Chad is a DJ on the side. We're always finding out what parties he did, or what he did on the weekend."
The toddlers are always eager to see their friends.
"One time, the babies were out back and they were naked swimming," the mom told Inside Edition. "They heard the truck, and they bolted out of the pool. I had to race to put their clothes on."
The special connection goes back when the triplets were just two months old, BuzzFeed reported. Black would wave to them from the truck while they were in the stroller and the interactions just evolved from there.
While the tots are happy to see the workers, the men get just as much joy from seeing their 2-year-old buddies. In fact, Black has been temporarily off his route due to a work injury, but still tries to pop by and visit the tots.
“I just love the triplets. I almost feel like they’re my own,” Black told BuzzFeed. “Every time I see them, they just bring me joy.”
Furthermore, the adorable friendship has brought a whole lotta joy to other sanitation workers across the internet who have seen the viral video. Even spurring some to share delightful experiences they've had with other kids they've encountered themselves.
"As a garbage man (sanitation engineer) it is always a happy day to see the joy on a kids face when I showed up," Facebook user Monty Estes wrote. "I had a customer who always brought their son out to see me and I gave him a matchbox trash truck one time and you would have thought I gave him the world. We have a rough job and this can make our day."
The mom says that it's definitely a bond that deserves to be cherished.
"We care about these guys," Sugalski told Inside Edition.