Now, I know we’ve just ended the holidays, and everyone is probably sick of the Christmas cheer, but for this story, I had to make an exception. So, here we go! Grab a box of tissues folks— and don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Last year, a community in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, lost a beloved resident.
At 87-years-old, Ken Watson had a firecracker personality.
In an interview with Wales Online, neighbor Owen Williams recalled the first time they met: “We moved to the street three years ago and made a real point of going round and meeting all the neighbors. Ken wasn’t in when we first called round, but the next day we heard some banging.”
“I went out to investigate and there was Ken in navy overalls bouncing across the face of his house at the top of a 20ft ladder. He was 83 at the time. That just summed him up, really.”
Because he didn’t have grandchildren of his own, Watson had a blast spoiling the neighborhood kids during the holidays.
Sadly, the neighborhood felt empty this year after the senior passed away. Following the tragedy, his family gathered to help organize his house. Then, on December 16., Williams heard a knock on the door.
When he opened the door, he saw Watson’s daughter standing there with a plastic bag. What was inside, however, would instantly melt his heart.
Inside the bag were presents Watson had purchased for William’s two-year-old daughter, Cadi. There were enough gifts to last for the next fourteen years.
The family was immediately touched by the late neighbor’s gesture. “He always told us he’d live till he was 100 years old, so these gifts would have taken him up to our little girl’s 16th Christmas,” Owen said in an interview with Wales Online.
After opening the plastic bag, Williams shared the story on Twitter, writing: “Our elderly neighbor 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.”
Upon seeing the presents, the family couldn’t resist but to open one gift. Inside was the children’s book Christmas Eve at the Mellops by Tomi Ungerer. The contents of the other gifts remain a mystery.
In an update posted a few days later, Williams wrote:
“We’re definitely going to open one every year till 2032, by the way. It’ll be our way of remembering an immensely generous gentleman— our new Christmas tradition.”
When William’s shared the story to Twitter, the world was touched by Watson’s gesture. Comments on the tweet read:
“Beautiful. Utterly beautiful. Don’t open them, it’s the sentiment not the gift that is value. I am sure, they’re timeless anyway.”
“As she gets older, she will learn the invaluable lesson, that the greatest gift to recieve and give, is the beautiful gift of humanity.”
“Oh my goodness, what an incredibly lovely thing to do. It also brought a tear to my eye.”
Hear the heartwarming story below!
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