Retiring mailman gets heartwarming surprise from entire neighborhood on his last day of work

With retirement comes an exciting future holding newfound freedom and leisure. No longer tethered to the clock, one can enjoy slow mornings, go on spontaneous adventures and indulge in passions long set aside. While it may be the end of one era, it's also a delightful beginning of another and hence, it surely deserves to be celebrated. So when USPS mail carrier Bill Buda was about to retire this September, he hoped his last working day would be memorable. However, the neighborhood he served for over two decades had bigger plans for him. A wholesome surprise awaited the retiree which his daughter, Alexa Buda—who goes by @blissfulbuda_ on TikTok—shared in a video.

After over three decades of delivering mail, Buda wanted to mark the end of his work life by taking his family along with him on his last day of deliveries. So, he was elated to see that the whole community had decided to celebrate his retirement. People came out of their homes to bid goodbye to their mailman and Alexa rightly captioned the video, "People will never forget how you made them feel." Houses were decorated with balloons, colorful party decorations and even signboards wishing Buda a happy retirement. Out of his 31 years of service, Buda spent 24 years delivering mail in the same route between Silver Lake Village and Stow, Ohio, as per PEOPLE. 

As a young man, Buda was an athlete and a professional basketball player in college until a heart condition detected during a tryout ended his sports career. While he was employed in several desk jobs, he couldn't maintain an active lifestyle. "It was kind of a blessing in disguise that he found this specific postal job. We always tell him that this job literally saved his life because walking 13 to 14 miles a day kept his heart, body and mind healthy," Alexa told the network. The 59-year-old was so dedicated to his work that he took only two sick days. He made a lot of friends in this neighborhood, watched their children grow up and even played little guessing games where the residents had to guess sports teams based on the color of his hat.

When Buda and his family showed up at every house for his last mail delivery, they were met with wholesome signs. That was not all. The residents even threw a small barbecue party for their favorite mailman. "They set up a little barbecue with snacks and water, and about 10 to 15 people from the surrounding houses came by. It was really cool to see because I wasn’t expecting any of this. He just thought it was another day. It turned into a really special goodbye that I don’t think he knew he needed until it happened," the daughter added. After his deliveries, the USPS carrier bid farewell to his coworkers and breathed a sigh of relief as he embarked on his retirement journey.

Within a week, Alexa's video garnered nearly 970k views and the internet was incredibly touched. "How beautiful! He’s been part of their lives—watching children grow up, puppies grow old and homes glow up," commented @km.728. "Think of all the love letters, birthday cards, family/pet ashes and other heart-filled mails over his years!" remarked @nate.l.lew. "This is what it means to be rich in this life. Look at all this love!" chimed in @glitterbosstumblers.

You can follow Alexa Buda (@blissfulbuda_) on TikTok for Yoga content.