Metro Roundup: Amwaste driver develops friendship with Vestavia girl

In March 2020, unable to leave her home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emma Grace Johnson, now 6 years old, began watching Amwaste garbage trucks coming up and down her street.

Emma Grace loves trucks and vehicles, said her mom, Laura Johnson.

In addition to being stuck at home, the Johnsons were going through a hard time as Laura’s dad had been sent home from the hospital a day before UAB Hospital reported its first COVID-19 patient. Her dad was terminally ill, and it took a serious toll on Emma Grace, whom the Johnsons adopted from Hungary when she was 3. Emma Grace has trauma-based needs as a result of her time in a Hungarian orphanage.

“There’s a lot more grieving than you would expect from a typical 5- or 6-year-old,” Laura Johnson said.

So, when Amwaste driver Elbert Berry began interacting with Emma Grace when he came down her street, it made her day, her mom said. Soon, Berry met Johnson, and the two became best friends.

“We started bonding slowly,” Berry said.

The timing could not have been better following the loss of Emma Grace’s grandfather, Johnson said.

“In those moments, she’d forget all of that,” Johnson said. “Her face would just light up. Having the opportunity to see her so happy, even just for those moments, was really special.”

Berry could not have known that the child he started waving at last year had just lost her grandfather, or that she was struggling with behavioral issues as a result of not being held at the orphanage. He couldn’t have known that before the age of 6, she’d gone through eight surgeries for various issues. He couldn’t have known when she was born, she weighed less than 1.5 pounds and had to spend four months in the neonatal intensive care unit.

“He just saw a little girl and took the time to be nice to her,” Johnson said. “For that, I’m grateful.”

Berry said after months of seeing and spending time with Emma Grace and her mom, they’ve become like family.

“She means the world,” Berry said. “She doesn’t see anything but good.”

Berry said he interacts with several kids on his route and sees all of his customers as family, but Emma Grace is special. “She’s the one,” he said.

Emma Grace’s hugs make Berry’s day go by much better, he said. “I depend on it,” he said.

In a world and a culture that is so often divided, Berry, who is Black, said Emma Grace, who is white, has taught him about loving others, even when they look different than you.

“She’s shown me how to love anybody,” Berry said. “That’s very special. She doesn’t look at my color.”

On weekends when he isn’t working, Berry said he plans to take time to come over to the Johnson’s home and play with Emma Grace.

But on days where she has to go to school and won’t see him, he made sure he will always be with her. Berry gave Emma Grace a pendent recently, a gift with a special message and a special picture.

Emma Grace loves making Berry cards and has even made cupcakes before. On one particular day, she made him a card with their picture inside. Unbeknownst to her, it was his birthday.

Berry took that same photo and put it in a pendent that said, “You are the best part of my day!” Now, Emma Grace can take a picture of her friend with her wherever she goes.

“He was so proud to make her smile,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Berry takes pride in his work and is very kind.

“He did it [giving her the necklace] just because he’s good,” Johnson said. “We would do anything for Mr. Berry.”

While Emma Grace is special, Johnson said she knows he would do it for anyone.

“He’s the kind-hearted person that would do for any child what he did for her,” Johnson said. “If it made them smile, he would do it.”

Berry said he wants to see Emma Grace grow up and get bigger and stronger and hopes their families can get together for the holidays. He said he wants to continue to be a “true friend” to the little girl who began waving at him in his garbage truck. “I’m not ever going to leave her.”