Elderly Man Leaves Little Girl 14 Years Of Christmas Presents After He Dies

"He told us he’d live till he was 100."

A dad has shared the heartwarming story of his elderly neighbour Ken who died recently but not before buying Christmas presents for his little girl, one a year until her 16th birthday.

Owen Williams, from Wales, shared photos of the bundle of presents on Twitter. Ken Watson’s daughter brought round a sack of them, telling Williams they were for his daughter, now two, for the next 14 Christmases.

“He always told us he’d live til he was 100 years old, so these gifts would have taken him up to our little girl’s 16th Christmas,” Williams wrote.

Our elderly neighbour passed away recently. His daughter popped round a few moments ago clutching a large plastic sack. In the sack were all the Christmas presents he’d bought for *our* daughter for the next thirteen years. 😢 pic.twitter.com/6CjiZ99Cor

— Owen Williams 🏴 (@OwsWills) December 17, 2018

Williams and his wife thought it would make a nice Christmas tradition to give their daughter “a present from Ken” for the next 14 years. “Issue is, we really have to open them now,” he added. “Nobody wants to give a 15-year-old Duplo!”

Using a poll, he asked his Twitter followers whether he should open them now and rewrap them or just do a lucky dip each year – to which the 6,000 voters overwhelmingly voted for a lucky dip (74%).

After his tweet gained traction – it’s had more than 500 retweets and 3,000 likes – many asked Williams to share more about Watson.

Watson was a former salvage diver, seaman, carpenter, and baker, said Williams. “The first time I met him, he was bouncing a 20ft ladder across the face of his house,” he wrote. “He was on top and he was 83 at the time.”

He added that the family dog loved Ken (“I mean, genuine visceral love”) and it was mainly due to the chocolate digestive biscuits he gave her on first meeting. “She’d scream whenever she saw him,” he wrote. “Really scream. He’d call her “my darling” and “sweetheart”.”

Our dog loved him. I mean, genuine visceral love. It was mainly due to the chocolate digestive biscuits he gave her on first meeting. She’d scream whenever she saw him. Really scream. Like a banshee. He’d call her “my darling” and “sweetheart”.

This is her first meeting. pic.twitter.com/DoG1F8mprO

— Owen Williams 🏴 (@OwsWills) December 17, 2018

Watson loved playing the accordion – Williams and his wife would hear the “strains of oompah” drift through the kitchen walls late at night. And he always said he’d live to 100.

Many people on Twitter were taken by the heartwarming story – including us.

Stop it Owen, no one's heart can take this. Plus is daughter delivered them? Oh the feelings...

Take your time, he chose, wrapped and planned them, so he wanted to take his time too

— Rachelle Denton ☇ (@MissRachelle) December 17, 2018

Oh my goodness, how absolutely lovely. What a special and thoughtful man he was... wow.

My suggestion would be to follow his wishes & give a present each year... It doesn’t matter what it is, it’s the thought, the gesture, the kindness that’s important here & to keep that alive

— Dr Rachel Hughes (@rachelgwenllian) December 17, 2018

Wow what a thoughtful man who clearly thought so much of you all as a family, made me cry this morning. I too would say give her one each year & let his memory be a household name. She will grow up to know she made an impact on his full life as he continues to make one in hers💗

— Mrs K Thompson (@mrskthompson1) December 18, 2018

There’s something in my eye 😢
Let her open them each year, tell her all about Ken at every passing Christmas, he will live on for years then....

— Curly (@curly4) December 17, 2018
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