Delivery Driver Who Befriended Cat Recorded Looking for Him, Unaware He Passed On
Published Dec. 4 2023, 10:43 a.m. ET
Losing a childhood pet is an excruciatingly heartrending experience for someone to go through. For many folks who grew up with a close animal friend who was there for them from when they were a kid, and then through those awkward wonder years until they're entering adulthood, seeing their pal pass away marks a somber end.
This sobering reminder can leave folks feeling forlorn, but, after-school TV special as it may sound, daily reminders of the special bond that you had with your dearly departed pet can help: not necessarily in softening the blow of their passing, but hopefully, a reminder that the love you had with them was indeed, very real, and a privilege that isn't guaranteed to us in this wildlife our species is entrenched in.
For a TikToker named Isaac (@tiredisaac), it was seeing a local delivery driver take the time to look for their cat, Lolly, after they had passed.
According to Isaac's clip, this particular driver, who visited his house to drop off packages several times, would always spend a bit of time with Lolly, petting him and showing the cat some love.
Unbeknownst to the driver on this fateful day, however, Lolly had passed away, but that didn't stop them from attempting to find the cat to give him the pets he enjoyed in life so much.
The sweet gesture was captured on Isaac's doorbell camera. He writes in a text overlay of the video: "My childhood cat passed away recently This delivery man would pet him on our porch everytime he made a delivery."
He added on the clip: "This is his first delivery since he passed away. He tried calling for him Looked around for him. "
The footage of the delivery driver was combined with a video of Isaac's cat which had its own caption that reads: "Rest in peace, Lolly."
The TikToker was so impressed with the kindness of the delivery driver that they recommended he get a little something extra from his employer for having such a big heart.
"Give this sweet man a raise for being one of my cats friends." The rest of the video shows Isaac playing with their cat in a lower-positioned clip as the delivery driver in question scans the driveway area, stepping on crunchy leaves as they search for Lolly."
Viewers who saw Isaac's clip sympathized with him for his loss, but also with the delivery driver who clearly had a soft spot for the kitty.
There was one TikTok user who said that the driver probably looked forward to delivering to Isaac's house as part of their route and that petting Lolly may've been one of the highlights of their day: "He was probably looking forward to delivering to the house too"
Another user pointed out that the driver was calling out to the kitty by making cat sounds himself: "CRYINGG at the fact that he’s trying to attract him by making his own cat meows"
Some commenters urged Isaac to let the driver know about Lolly's passing: "the way he visually got more worried the longer it was taking the cat the come up to him. please let him know."
"Pls give him some closure. He’s probably so sad"
In a follow-up video, Isaac gave a bit more detail on how great of a cat Lolly was, stating that he was the most "human loving" kitty he's ever seen and that his family went to Build-a-Bear to get a gift for the delivery driver that included a sound bite of Lolly's "iconic" meow.
In another clip, Isaac thanked folks for checking out and buying stuff off the Amazon gift registry he set up for the delivery man as a thank you for being such a kind-hearted human.
Isaac also documented the outpour of support for the driver online that percolated as a result of his love for Lolly: not only did people send gifts for the driver, but other companies crafted stickers and other goodies commemorating Lolly, and the company Isaac works for put together a gift box for the delivery person.
In fact, Isaac was even able to get in touch with the driver and brought all of the gifts to his house, recording parts of their interaction in the process. Isaac posted screenshots of his text messages with the driver prior to their meet-up. One bit of correspondence that stuck out to users was the driver's surprise that people were touched by the fact that he loved animals as much as he did.
"I wish I could've seen him one last time...this is a huge surprise i didnt expect to be loved by other people for jus loving animals.Everyone should love animals as much as people."