UPS boy reunites with his beloved delivery driver
A Colorado Springs boy’s love for UPS is capturing hearts around the world.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 first introduced 4-year-old Carson Kight in a story last week. Since then, his YouTube video with UPS has been viewed more than 1 million times and has been shared around the world.
“People need the Christmas spirit right now,” said Jim Kight, Carson’s dad. “And then they see the story about what they remember when they were children and they see the spirit in it.”
Carson’s love for UPS started with the UPS driver he calls Mr. Ernie.
Ernest Lagasca delivered special formula to Carson and the two formed a friendship, spending time together with every delivery.
“For some reason the UPS truck really captivated him and he was really intrigued by it,” Lagasca said. “After awhile he was right on the curb with me. When the truck would drive up, he was there waiting.”
UPS delivered Carson a mini UPS truck so he can live out his dream to be Mr. Ernie. Carson now spends his time delivering treats to his neighbors.
“He’s not very enamored by what I do,” said Jim Kight. “He sees me leave in the morning. He sees me come home at night. I give him the love he deserves and the attention he deserves, but what he sees from Ernie is a gentleman who is making things happen every day. That’s what impacts a 4-year-old. He sees that lesson, that work ethic from Ernie that he doesn’t necessarily see from me other than getting up in the morning. Ernie gets up, gets to work on time, drives all day long, lifts heavy weights and still has a smile on his face at the end of the day for Carson.”
Since Lagasca’s driving route is no longer in Carson’s neighborhood, the two rarely see each other anymore.
On Tuesday, UPS invited Carson to spend the morning with drivers before they started the workday. Carson gave the drivers safety advice, and mini packages filled with cookies and treats.
“Now we get to give back to the folks that make Christmas happen for a lot of us,” Jim Kight said. “For every one of them, they’re making 10,000 Christmases happen, or holidays happen for us.”
The day was marked with a special moment — Carson and Mr. Ernie got to spend time together waving to each delivery driver as they pulled away from the customer center.
“All these guys out here probably have a story similar to mine,” Lagasca said. “For me it was Carson, which is extremely special for me.”
