Home2-year-old gets Christmas gifts for 14 years from kind elderly neighbor who passed away

2-year-old gets Christmas gifts for 14 years from kind elderly neighbor who passed away

December 29, 2018 | by Aby Rivas

A family was surprised by their neighbor’s thoughtful gift for their 2-year-old daughter a few days after the man passed away. He left the little girl 14 gifts that he would be able to deliver if he had lived until 100 as he intended.

Owen Williams, from the British seaside town of Barry, Wales, and his wife, were having dinner a week before Christmas when someone knocked on their door. After opening, they met with the daughter of their late neighbor, Ken Watson, who had recently passed away.

The woman had a bag with her and explained to the Williams that her father had left some gifts for their daughter Cardi. There were 14 gifts, all carefully wrapped for Christmas, each one intended to be delivered to the girl for the next 14 years.

Owen and his wife found the old man’s act lovely, so he decided to share the story on Twitter, where it went viral with over 50k engagements.

However, the parents encountered a little problem. The gifts were not labeled, and Ken didn't leave indications as to which one was to be delivered each year. So Owen decided to ask people on Twitter what should they do, open them all and see what was appropriate for Cardi’s age, or keep the element surprise.

People on Twitter chose to go for a lucky dip until 2032 when Cardi is turning 16-year-old.

“So we will create this familial Christmas tradition all about this elderly gentleman who was very kind to her once upon a time, who she will never know, only through stories,” Williams told NBC News.

MORE ABOUT KEN

Williams described his late neighbor as a “daredevil.” He explained that his dog, Wookie loved the man because, on their first meeting, Ken asked if it was okay to give the little pup a chocolate cookie. When Williams tried to explain that chocolate is dangerous for dogs, Ken ignored him and gave the cookie anyway.

“She’d scream whenever she saw him. Really scream. Like a banshee. He’d call her “my darling” and “sweetheart,” he said on the beautiful relationship of Ken with the dog.

Ken was a man of many talents: a marine salvage diver, master craftsman, baker, accordion player and a member of the Air Force. “Two years ago he wing-walked for his birthday on a biplane, just because he missed his wife and wanted to alleviate boredom. That's perhaps the sign of a man, you know,” Williams told CBC.

But he was not surprised by the 83-year-old’ spirit of adventure. When Owen and his wife first moved to the neighborhood in 2015, the first impression they got of Ken was watching the man at the top of a  20-foot ladder dressed in navy coveralls trying to reach a scaffolding at the front of his house.

Ken was also a local Santa. On Cadi’s first Christmas, the man showed up with a giant lion plushie for the baby girl. It turns out the man had bought the same plushie at the local store to give to all of the kids in the neighborhood.

“Just goes to show the measure of the man, really. He was a forward-planner extraordinaire,” said Williams.

TWO GIFTS REVEALED

At the moment two gifts were already opened, the first one was uncovered after Own's wife impulse, and is a lovely book titled "Christmas Eve at the Mellops." The author of the book caught wind of the story and contacted Owen to sign the book for Cardi.

The other one was opened on Christmas day and it was a little-stuffed goat.

Cardi now will have something to look forward every Christmas until she turns 16, and is all thanks to a kind-hearted man that she probably won't even remember.

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