Ethan Dean, 6, who has cystic fibrosis, had his dream to be a garbage man come true today with help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He helped collect trash in Sacramento.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ethan Dean will be living his dream today.

The 6-year-old has a garbage truck bedspread and pillow. He has garbage truck toys. He’s had a garbage truck birthday party.

Now, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, he’s going to experience what it’s like to be a garbage truck driver. The boy who has cystic fibrosis will ride in a real garbage truck through downtown Sacramento, collecting trash and recyclables, just like he’s always wanted.

When Ethan visited the Make-A-Wish Foundation in February, he was asked a series of questions: What do you want to be? Who do you want to meet? What do you want to have? Where do you want to go?

Almost all of his answers were garbage truck-related, said Jennifer Stolo, CEO of the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He really, really wants to be a garbage man when he grows up.

It meant the wish he’d be granted wasn’t too mysterious.

“We pretty much knew it was going to be about garbage trucks,” said Ethan’s dad, Ken Dean, laughing. He’s been watching them come down the street since he first learned how to crawl, his dad said.

Stolo and her team of “fairies” knew just what he wanted.

This morning at an outdoor assembly at his elementary school in Rancho Cordova, Ethan discovered his garbage man surprise.

Ethan was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as an infant and began treatment at eight weeks old.