In July, Valarie Watts faced an unimaginable heartbreak when she gave birth to her stillborn son, Noah. Overwhelmed with grief, she decided to sell most of the baby items she had hoped to use for Noah. She thought it would help her cope with the loss.
One item Valarie couldn’t bring herself to part with was the white crib. It held too many memories and too much pain. But when Gerald Kumpula, a 75-year-old retiree, spotted the crib at her yard sale, he was determined to buy it.
Gerald was a skilled craftsman who turned old headboards and footboards into beautiful benches. When Valarie, 28, learned about Gerald’s talent, she felt a bit better about giving up the crib. “I was kind of at peace with it because he’d be making something nice,” she said. She sold it to him for just two dollars.
When Gerald’s wife, Lorene, saw the baby clothes at the sale and asked about Noah, Valarie opened up about her tragic story. Lorene shared the details with Gerald on their way home. Having experienced their own loss with a stillborn grandchild, the Kumpulas felt a deep connection to Valarie’s pain.
A week later, Gerald and Lorene returned with a surprise—a bench made from the crib Valarie had sold. “It’s beautiful,” Valarie told TODAY.com, touched by their gesture. “There are still good people out there,” she said with a sense of relief.
Valarie placed the bench in her living room, near a corner bookcase filled with pictures, footprints, handprints, and Noah’s ashes. The bench has become a special place where she can sit, hug Noah’s bear, and remember him. “I’m so happy that it’s not just sitting around doing nothing,” Valarie said. “I can now sit in it, cuddle his bear, and reflect on him if necessary.”
Before Noah’s birth, Valarie had noticed less movement from him. On July 22, during a cesarean section, she and her fiancé Jimi Hamblin discovered that Noah had not survived. Doctors explained that Noah’s umbilical cord had become constricted, stopping him from breathing.
The Kumpulas were particularly sensitive to Valarie’s grief, having gone through similar pain themselves. Gerald said, “An abandoned crib is a somber reminder. A bench functions more as a monument. It’s a part of that awful event, but it’s not just an empty crib.”
Gerald refused to accept any payment for the bench. “Being able to assist someone is just pleasant. Helping others is good,” he said simply.
Valarie and Jimi, who are planning their wedding for this autumn, also have a 7-year-old daughter named Nevaeh. Valarie finds comfort in the bench, which sits beside Noah’s memorial bookcase.
“Even though he’s not here, I feel comforted by his presence when I’m sitting in it,” she said. “Everything has a calm, ‘it’s okay’ vibe to it. I can sit on the bench and feel better when I’m down; everything will work out in the end.”
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