Valarie Watts was devastated when she delivered her stillborn son, Noah, in July. As she grieved, she decided to sell most of the baby items she had lovingly prepared for him. But there was one thing she just couldn’t bring herself to part with—a white crib that had once held all her dreams for her baby boy.
Last month, during a yard sale, a kind retiree named Gerald Kumpula noticed the crib. Gerald, 75, was a craftsman who loved turning old furniture into beautiful benches. He had an eye for transforming the old into something new. Though Valarie, 28, was hesitant to let it go, Gerald gently asked if he could buy it.
At first, Valarie wasn’t sure about selling the crib, but eventually, she agreed to let it go for just two dollars. She found some peace in knowing that Gerald would create something beautiful from it. “I was kind of at peace with it,” she said, “because he’d be making something nice.”
As Valarie and Gerald’s wife, Lorene, chatted during the sale, Lorene asked about Valarie’s son. It was then that Valarie opened up and shared her heartbreaking story of loss. Touched by her story, Lorene told Gerald about it on their way home.
The Kumpulas, who had raised fifteen children and cherished many grandchildren, deeply understood Valarie’s grief. They knew in their hearts that the crib truly belonged with her. A week later, they returned to Valarie’s house with a very special gift. Gerald had transformed the crib into a beautiful bench, a new creation that honored her dreams for Noah.
When Valarie saw the bench, she was overwhelmed with emotion. “It’s beautiful,” she told TODAY.com. “There are still good people out there.” The bench now sits in her living room, surrounded by memories of Noah.
“I’m so happy that it’s not just sitting around doing nothing,” Valarie said. “Now I can sit in it, hold his bear, and think about him if I need to.” She recalled how, in the final days of her pregnancy, she had noticed a decrease in Noah’s movements. On July 22, during a cesarean section, she and her fiancé, Jimi Hamblin, received the heartbreaking news that Noah wasn’t breathing. The doctors later explained that his umbilical cord had tightened, cutting off his oxygen.
The Kumpulas understood Valarie’s pain all too well, as they had also lost their first grandchild to stillbirth. Gerald knew how difficult it was to look at an empty crib. “An abandoned crib is a somber reminder,” he said. “A bench functions more as a monument. It’s a part of that awful event, but it’s not a crib—an empty crib—like it would be.”
Gerald refused any payment for the bench. “It’s just nice to be able to help someone. Helping others is good,” he said simply.
Valarie, who is planning to marry Jimi this autumn, now finds comfort in the bench. It sits next to a bookcase filled with pictures, footprints, handprints, and the ashes of Noah. The couple also has a 7-year-old daughter named Nevaeh. For Valarie, the bench has become a place of peace and healing.
“Even though he’s not here, I feel comforted by his presence when I’m sitting in it,” Valarie said. “Everything has a calm, ‘it’s okay’ vibe to it. I can sit on the bench and feel better when I’m sad; everything will work out in the end.”
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