After a Neighbor Died, This Couple Was Shocked When They Discovered What He Did To Their Daughter

One night, Owen and Caroline Williams discovered what their neighbor, who had recently died, did for their daughter. What they found out will leave you in shock.

Owen, 44, and his wife Caroline, 38, lived with their two-year-old daughter Katie in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Their neighborhood was peaceful, and the people were friendly and got along with each other. Owen worked as the managing director at a social agency, while his wife Caroline was an assistant head teacher. Together they created a loving home for their little bundle of joy who brought sunshine to everyone around her. The couple loved Katie dearly, but it was not just them; many of their neighbors were very fond of the little girl too.

Katie was a sweet child who liked to smile at everyone, including strangers. She had a way of brightening up anyone’s day, and she did the same for Ken Watson, an old man who lived next door. In fact, in his case, she brightened up his entire life.

Alan met Ken Watson for the first time in September 2015. At that point, Katie had not yet been born. Owen and Caroline had just moved into the neighborhood and thought it’d be a nice thing to go from door to door to introduce themselves to their new neighbors and give them a small gift.

The first time they went around, Ken wasn’t home. However, a few days later, Owen heard Ken’s voice coming from his front yard, so he went out to meet him. He wanted to give him a bottle of wine, say hello, and introduce himself as the new neighbor. However, he had no idea that he would be in for a big surprise.

The moment Alan laid eyes on Ken, he stopped in his tracks and blinked a couple of times to be sure that his eyes were not deceiving him. He had expected to see someone much younger because of the pop music he had heard coming from Ken’s house. But to his greatest shock, he saw an elderly man on a ladder 20 feet above the ground. Ken, a senior, was in his element, wearing a blue boiler suit and painting while listening to some tunes coming from a portable speaker. His head and legs were moving around to the beat as if it wasn’t a big deal that he was on a 20 feet ladder.

Owen was scared that the old man would miss his step and fall. Unable to contain his shock, he muttered, “Oh my God, how can an old man do this?” In response, Ken chuckled, then got down the ladder, smiled, and said, “Why not? This is just like exercising, and you know it makes people live longer.” From that moment on, Owen and Ken became friends. Alan found the old man interesting and fun to be around. Ken had a lot of stories to share from his long life. He had worked many jobs and was a former salvage diver, seaman, carpenter, and baker. Ken was an eccentric and fun-loving man who always gave the neighbors something to talk about.

Yet it wasn’t until after he passed away that one of his most remarkable acts came to light, leaving everyone in awe. Ken formed a close relationship with Owen, Caroline, and their pet dog Wookie. The elderly man was always up to some mischief. For instance, he managed to get Wookie to like him by feeding her a chocolate digestive. He didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to give chocolate to a dog. The sweet dog then fell in love with the old man, and they became inseparable. They would take long walks together, and the dog would even sleep over at the old man’s house.

“Wookie keeps to herself most of the time, so when she suddenly became friends with Ken, we knew something was fishy. One day we saw Ken feeding her chocolate, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, that’s it. That is why she likes the old man.’ It was funny. We didn’t stop Ken from giving her the chocolates because he did it only once a week,” Caroline shared.

On many nights, Ken and the couple would sit on the patio chair in the front yard and have beautiful conversations. Ken would tell them all about his late wife, and on a few occasions, he also advised the couple to start trying for a baby. When Katie was born, Ken couldn’t contain his excitement. He treated her like she was his grandchild since he didn’t have any of his own. He showered the little girl with love and attention, and Katie quickly became an important part of Ken’s life.

On Katie’s first birthday, Ken gifted the little girl a giant cuddly lion that was much taller than her. When she arrived at his house with the toy, Ken lifted her onto his lap and asked what they should name their new companion. Glancing around, Katie spotted one of Ken’s storybooks and pointed out the name “Elvis” on its cover. Excited by this suggestion, Ken clapped his hands in delight, and the duo agreed that they would call their new friend “Elvis.

A few days after Katie’s first birthday, Owen went to a local toy shop to get some gifts for Katie. There, he saw the same giant cuddly lion that Ken had gotten for Katie. He told the owner how his neighbor had bought the same cuddly lion as a gift for his daughter. “Was it Ken?” the owner asked. “How do you know?” Allen asked, surprised. The owner then smiled and explained to Alan how Ken had come into the shop after seeing the toys on the window display. Each of those toys sold for 20 pounds, and he bought one for all the children living on that street. Ken had told the store owner that he wanted to do something nice for them. “He is a great man,” the shop owner said, and Owen, of course, happily agreed.

The first time that Ken gave Katie a Christmas present, Alan and Caroline pretended to be upset because Katie liked his gifts more than the ones they got her. Ken laughed heartily and promised to get her an even better gift the following year. “I’m not going to die until I’m 100 years old, so Katie will keep receiving my gifts up until she’s 16,” Ken teased.

Unfortunately, in 2018, Ken tragically passed away from cancer. His neighbors were left in a state of shock and grief as they had all come to view him as an immortal figure who could never be taken away from them. Everyone mourned his loss deeply, including Katie and the family dog Wookie, both of whom became very quiet and somber after the old man passed away.

A few days after Ken’s funeral, his daughter Jenny started to clear out his house, and that was when she discovered the unthinkable. What could it be? Well, keep watching to find out.

Later that day, Alan was tucking Katie into bed when he heard a knock at the door. He went to get it and found Jenny at the doorstep. She was clutching a large bin bag, which Owen assumed contained rubbish. “Is something wrong?” Owen asked, his concern evident. He thought Jenny had come to ask them for help with something, but she shook her head and told him it was about Ken. Instead of worrying Owen, he invited her into the house, and they sat on the sofa close to the door. Jenny asked Alan to call Caroline, and when she joined them in the living room, Jenny revealed the reason for her visit. By the time she finished speaking, tears were streaming down Alan and Caroline’s faces.

After a while, Jenny took her leave, leaving behind the mysterious bin bag. The couple was left in stunned silence, and neither of them could say a word to each other. The duo barely slept that night; they just kept staring at the bag full of unknown contents. The following morning, precisely at 6 am, the couple went to Katie’s room and woke her up. They were eager to share the news with her, even though they knew it would be devastating for her. They guided her into the living room and pointed towards the bin bag. “What’s that?” a drowsy Katie asked. Then her parents broke the news to her.

They told her that the bag contained Christmas presents from Ken. Katie was overwhelmed with emotion, unable to hold back her tears at such an incredible display of love. When she stopped crying, the family counted the gifts, and they were 14 in number. According to Jenny, Ken wanted Katie to open one gift every Christmas Eve, which meant she would have a gift every year until she turned 16. Ken had kept his word that Katie would receive Christmas gifts from him until he was 100 years old.

The family was knocked off their feet by his generosity and began a tradition of opening Katie’s Ken gift every Christmas Eve. “We had no idea what the gifts were, and truthfully, we were eager to open all of them and find out what they were, then re-wrap them afterwards,” Owen admitted. Alan and Caroline wanted to open the gifts so they could determine which age-appropriate presents Katie should receive each year, as there were no indications included with the gifts about when to give them.

Eventually, they decided not to open them after asking what their social media followers thought. Almost 70 percent of their followers thought they should wait. Still, the couple couldn’t resist opening one that very night, as there was a tiny tear on it.

It was a beautiful olive-colored book titled “Christmas Eve at the Mallops.” The other gifts in the next three years included the cuddly goat in 2019, a train set spelling “Katie” in 2020, and a giant Crayola coloring book in 2021. Every year, Owen keeps Ken’s kindness alive by sharing each gift online with the hashtag #BeMoreKen.