Floyd Martin has been a mail carrier in Georgia since 1985 working the same route in downtown Marietta for 20 years, so it’s safe to say he’s made a lot of friends and most everyone in town knows his face.
One resident said about Mr. Martin, “He’s really part of our family. He’s just really special.” And Martin confirmed that the best part of his job has been the relationships he’s made over the years. He said, “They would invite me to dinner. [On] holidays, they would try to make sure I wasn’t alone. They bring gifts to me. If my truck broke down, which it did, they would come out to check on me. They were there for me.”
When word got out that Martin was going to retire from the post office, the residents of Marietta decided to send him off in style and show the mail carrier how much he’s meant to them over the years.
Roughly 500 people live on Martin’s daily route, and his last day they were all invited to decorate their mailboxes and come to a surprise potluck party awaiting Martin at the end of his route.
The turnout was amazing – pretty much everyone came out to show Martin what an impact he’s made on their lives over the years. One resident said, “I don’t remember the moment we first met Floyd. But probably the third year we were there he had made enough of an impact on our family that my 3-year-old daughter wanted to dress up as Mr. Floyd for career day at school, and then he came to her birthday party.”
Take a look at this great Twitter thread that documents Martin’s last day on the job.
Be sure to read all the way to the end for a great update!
And finally, here’s a cool update!
Martin’s friends launched a GoFundMe campaign to send him to Hawaii. The group was looking for $5,000 and as of today they’ve raised over $32,000!
Enjoy your retirement, Mr. Martin, and enjoy Hawaii. You’ll be missed on your daily route, but you earned it.
