JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
And now the story of a friendship that's honored in a special way each and every Christmas. Seven years ago, Owen Williams and his wife learned that their 87-year-old neighbor Ken Watson had died. The couple was devastated to lose their close friend. Watson had formed a special bond with their daughter Cadi, who was a baby at the time. But Watson has continued to honor that bond, leaving behind 14 gifts.
CADI: Well, I've had loads of different gifts.
SUMMERS: Cadi opens one each Christmas to honor Watson's memory. Cadi, who's now 9 years old, and her dad, Owen Williams, join us from Wales. Welcome to both of you and happy holidays.
OWEN WILLIAMS: And happy holidays to you, too. Merry Christmas.
SUMMERS: Owen, let's start with you. Back in 2018, when you learned that your neighbor Ken Watson had left behind all of these gifts for your daughter Cadi, what was going through your mind?
WILLIAMS: Gratitude mixed with shock. I mean, his daughter arrived at the door with - clutching a large, black refuse sack and said, these are the gifts my father left behind for Cadi. You don't have words at that moment because it's such a confusing sort of statement because obviously she was upset.
SUMMERS: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: So she handed us the bag and left into the night. And we took the bag into the kitchen, and I started taking these gifts out of the bag. And they just kept coming. And if you've seen "Mary Poppins," you know exactly what I mean by this bag, these gifts, these presents - all of them wrapped. They just kept appearing. And I thought, my goodness, this is wonderful. It's the most unusual experience to receive a legacy not for you necessarily, and not for anything you've done, just because someone cared enough to think about someone else and just wanted to have them remember them. It takes your breath away, really.
SUMMERS: Yeah. Cadi, tell us about some of the gifts that you've gotten from your neighbor.
CADI: When I was little, I got lots of books, including a one with different stories. And last year I got a key ring with a pug on it. But I haven't opened this year's yet.
SUMMERS: What is it like, Cadi, for you every year - knowing that these gifts were collected by your neighbor so long ago - to open Ken's gift to you?
CADI: I really appreciate that he started gifts for me every year until I'm 14 or 16.
WILLIAMS: Sixteen. Sixteen, I think.
CADI: Sixteen.
WILLIAMS: She knows that he was a wonderful man. And we actually have a gift in front of us that has yet to be opened, if you'd like an NPR exclusive on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
SUMMERS: If you're willing, I'd love to hear you open that gift and see what this year's gift from Ken Watson was.
WILLIAMS: Well, let's see if Cadi would like to do the honors and open this gift.
CADI: It's a book.
WILLIAMS: Oh, that's pretty.
SUMMERS: Tell us about the book. What book is it?
CADI: "Precious And The Mystery Of The Meerkat Hill" (ph).
WILLIAMS: It's a book by Alexander McCall Smith. It's called "Precious And The Mystery Of Meerkat Hill: A New Case For Precious Ramotswe." I've never heard of this in my life.
CADI: It's in Botswana.
WILLIAMS: It's based in Botswana in Africa, yes. It's Precious Ramotswe - forgive me if I'm saying that name wrong - of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
SUMMERS: OK.
WILLIAMS: (Reading) Having already cracked the case of the missing cakes at school, she now has a new mystery to solve.
Well, that's just a lovely thing, isn't it?
CADI: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: That's such a pretty book.
SUMMERS: That's the best part of getting presents - right? - is the surprise, not knowing what you're going to unwrap.
WILLIAMS: And it's a real surprise with this one because we have literally no idea. They're not age-graded. So all we have is a box that we've put together full of parcels that were given to us and no reference points. He knew he was dying, and he prepared for passing on gifts for the next few years to my daughter. And that is in itself a wonderful thing and a really, really special thing. But it's also - it also has a touch of magic to it as well because it's like this Father Christmas character. These gifts keep appearing. And this is a - I'm actually quite touched by this. This is such a beautiful book, really pretty book. But that'll be one for you to read over the next few days, won't it?
CADI: I could take it to Ireland.
WILLIAMS: You can take it to Ireland with you. We're going to Ireland to visit the relatives.
SUMMERS: Oh, amazing.
WILLIAMS: So you can take to Ireland with you on the plane.
SUMMERS: Owen, it's been years now since Ken Watson died. What has this Christmas tradition come to represent for you and your family and the people around you?
WILLIAMS: It's funny. It's a tradition for us in that we get to remember him. He was a master baker. He was a navy diver. He was a salvage diver. He was a carpenter, a metal worker, a fabricator. He was a teacher, an artisan, a craftsman. He had a long and varied life. So that's the character of the man. He was an adventurer. He was a daredevil. He was one of these rare diamonds that you meet along the way. And these people sort of bless your life in unheralded ways, as it turns out.
SUMMERS: Owen Williams and his daughter Cadi, speaking with us from Barry, Wales, on this Christmas Day. Thanks to both of you for sharing your memories, and happy holidays.
WILLIAMS: Nadolig llawen. A very merry Christmas to you, too.
CADI: Merry Christmas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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