An autistic man nearing the end of his time on Earth has gathered his family around him to pass on his precious collection of unread messages, according to eyewitnesses.

Ben Espenson, 89, has lived a long, autistic life, and has made his peace with the fact that it is coming to an end and others can deal with enjoy his lovingly cultivated WhatsApp archive folder.

Espenson said: “Throughout my many years I have amassed a great collection of nick-nacks, gee-gaws, doohickies, trinkets, and interesting stones. What is most important to me, though, is my extensive library of messages that I have left unread, because I knew I needed to reply to them. I want to pass these messages on to my nearest and dearest, so that they, too, can enjoy ignoring them for many years to come.”

Though a sad occasion, the family gathering was reportedly touched with joy, as Espenson shared anecdotes about the important – and often time-sensitive – unread messages he was handing down to the next generation, bringing smiles and laughter with his tales of hospital booking reminders, chasing emails from his boss, and messages from close friends about the birth of their new child.

Granddaughter Natasha Weaving, 20, who received almost 50 rare pieces of correspondence, said: “It’s a wonderful gift from Grandad, and a fabulous thing to remember him by. I can’t ever imagine replying to them. I want to put them to one side, so I can pass them to my children one day, along with everything I’ve been meaning to get around to replying to but never actually did. Plus they’re worth more if they’re unopened. Probably.”

Robert Noot, 64, Espenson’s eldest child, was not present for the bequeathing, telling reporters, “Oh God was that TODAY? Dad texted me, but I thought I’d better leave it unread, because it was probably important and I knew I needed to set aside time to read it and write a reply!”

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