Every neighborhood has that one sweet, elderly resident everyone loves. For Owen Williams, that man was 87-year-old Ken Watson. When his beloved neighbor recently passed away, Williams and his wife were touched to discover Watson had left behind a special Christmas present for their 2-year-old daughter to open every year for the next 14 years.
“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,” the dad shares on Twitter.
Upon opening the first carefully wrapped present, the parents found a sweet Christmas story: Christmas Eve at the Mellops’.
The author of the book, Tomi Ungerer, was so touched by the uplifting story, he told Williams he’d love to sign the copy of the book.
After the original tweet instantly gained worldwide attention—nearly 8,000 retweets and more than 41,000 likes in just days—Williams decided to honor his late neighbor by sharing sweet details about the man.
“Ken was a former salvage diver, seaman, carpenter, baker…The first time I met him, he was bouncing a 20 foot ladder across the face of his house. He was on top—he was 83 at the time,” the dad recounts.
Watson also played the accordian, and Williams fondly recalls how he and his family would hear the melodies from his instrument spill into their home late at night. In addition to his musical hobby, the elderly man sought out adventure, where he made headlines after he completed a parachute jump over Swansea airspace at 85 years old.
Surely, the sweet man never imagined the legacy he would leave behind by gifting those presents to his adorable neighbor. And while Internet fame is likely not what he was after, the viral story is a reminder of how one small act of kindness can make a lasting impact.
