One toddler got a special surprise from the local community for his 2nd birthday.
Colby, who will be turning 2 on July 24, got to celebrate his birthday a few days early with a series of surprises from the family’s local mail carrier in Simsbury, Connecticut, affectionately known in the community as "Mailman Mike."
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Mom Jessica Bergman, 36, tells TODAY.com over the phone that the mail carrier is a “hero” to her son, adding, “He looks forward to seeing him all the time. We look for mail trucks in the wild.”
Colby has been a fan of the United States Postal Service's mail trucks for as long as Bergman can remember, though it’s become a “hardcore obsession” over the last six months.
Bergman shared a nearly six-minute long video on TikTok documenting one of his birthday celebrations on July 20.
While Bergman and her children, Colby and Hailey, 4, stood at the edge of the driveway along with the family's nanny, a mail truck with flashing lights appeared in the distance.
What started as just a single USPS mail truck turned out to be a fleet of local vehicles from the community, including a firetruck, several garbage trucks, a police car and of course, more mail trucks.
However, the parade of vehicles wasn't the only surprise for Colby’s big day.
From the back of a mail truck, Colby was presented with a customized Cozy Coupe car that was painted white to match the USPS trucks, which paired nicely with the miniature electric mail truck he already had in the driveway.
He was then given another surprise when a local officer brought over a dog for Colby to pet and hang out with.
There was one more surprise in store for Colby though. For the last hurrah of the day, Colby was presented with a laminated certificate that named him an honorary letter carrier.
The comments section of Bergman’s post was filled with sweet sentiments about Colby’s celebration, as well as praise for the local community members who helped put the surprise together.
“Mailman Mike has a heart of gold,” one TikTok user wrote. “He made that boys day and that boy made his.”
Another comment read, “Why am I crying? This is the sweetest thing ever!!!!”
“I think we are all cry-laughing at how sweet this moment is…a forever memory,” another TikTok user wrote.
Another comment compared the mail carrier to Mister Rogers, writing, "Living for this!! How absolutely kind of him.”
In the caption of the video, Bergman said she was “blown away” by the surprise from her community, adding the sweet sentiment, “My dad always said if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Thank you for everything you do for residents of Simsbury.”
While planning Colby's party, Bergman tells TODAY.com she called her son's favorite mail carrier to see if he would be able to drive by as a birthday gift. But Bergman says he went “above and beyond” with the surprise by bringing in more members of the community for the parade, saying it was “beyond anything I could have ever imagined.”
She also shared that in addition to all of the gifts captured in the video, afterward, Colby was given a miniature recycling bin truck, which she said he later slept next to.
After his early birthday surprise on Thursday, Colby celebrated at home with another USPS-themed event.
For decor, Bergman hung a garland of mail trucks, made a USPS poster and got a cake decorated in red, white and blue with a mail truck front and center.
Since posting the video, Bergman's video has amassed over 1.6 million views on TikTok and has nearly 250,000 likes.
Bergman commended her local community members for their involvement in her son’s birthday surprise, especially mailman Mike, telling TODAY.com, “They’re such important members of our community and they show up every day. It’s just very obvious that this is someone who just absolutely loves what he does and just brings joy to everyone every single day."
"I never anticipated that it would be what it turned out to be,” Bergman said of the internet’s response to the video. “It has brought us so much joy, Colby so much joy … People were coming out with their own stories about Mike and other people in the community and it’s just really heartwarming to see.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY
