FOUR years ago, on a rainy night in December, a family in Barry received a knock on the door and were presented with a sack full of presents for their daughter left by their elderly neighbour before he died.
Ken Watson, 87, had watched Cadi grow up and as a final act of kindness he left her 14 presents for the little girl which will last until she is 16 years old.
Cadi now 6 lives in Barry with her dad Owen Williams, mum Caroline Williams and one year old brother FFin.
Cadi opening last year's mystery present. Picture Owen Williams
The family moved into their Barry home in 2015 and Ken died in 2018.
Owen said: “In 2018 a couple of months after Ken died his daughter knocked on the door holding a black plastic bag and I thought it was a bag of rubbish.
“She said tearfully these are all the gifts her dad had put away for the next couple of years for Cadi.
“I walked back into the kitchen with my heart in my throat, my wife was on the phone to her mother-in-law in Ireland.
Owen, Caroline and Cadi. Picture: Owen Williams
“I told them what Ken had done and everyone started crying, I started pulling the gifts out of the bag and they just kept on coming.
“There is nothing on the packages to say what year they are meant to be given but they are beautifully wrapped.”
Every year Cadi opens one of the presents Ken left for her.
So far she has opened a little goat, a wooden little train that has carriages that spelt out her name, a Crayola colouring book and a ghostly tales book last year.
Shortly after Cadi was born Ken brought her a soft cuddly toy.
Owen said: “After Cadi was born, he brought round a present and it was an enormous dreadlocked lion - they are about £40/£50.
The box of presents left by Ken. Picture: Newsquest
“I saw the lion in a toy shop after his death and the shop owner told me he brought one for every new-born in the street so every child in the street has one of these lions.
“He was fascinating character, very opinionated and extremely kind.”
Throughout his lifetime Ken worked as a salvage diver, a carpenter, a metal worker and even baked his own wedding cake.
After his Beryl died in 2012 Ken took up a series of adventurous challenges including wing walking and sky diving.
Ken died in 2018. Picture: Newsquest
Recalling the first time he met Ken, Owen said: “The first time I met Ken there was a ladder up the top of the house and right at the top in some navy-blue overalls was an elderly man holding a bucket of paint and painting the outside of his house.
“He didn’t go down the ladder to move it he instead balanced the ladder across the front, and he was 83 at the time.
“On that first meeting he gave our dog Wci a chocolate biscuit. She absolutely loved him from that moment on.
“He lived an adventurous life, was a fascinating character, very opinionated and extremely kind.”
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