Valarie Watts was devastated when her baby, Noah, was stillborn in July. In her grief, she decided to sell most of the baby items she had bought for him. However, there was one special item she couldn’t bring herself to part with: a white crib that had symbolized all her hopes and dreams for Noah.
Last month, during a yard sale, a retiree named Gerald Kumpula noticed the crib. Valarie, who was 28, was unsure about selling it. Gerald, 75, gently asked if he could buy it. He was a craftsman known for turning old headboards and footboards into beautiful benches, and he saw potential in the crib.
After some thought, Valarie agreed to sell it for just two dollars, finding comfort in the fact that Gerald would turn the crib into something beautiful. “I was kind of at peace with it,” she said, “because he’d be making something nice.”
While Valarie and Gerald’s wife, Lorene, were chatting at the sale, Lorene asked about Valarie’s son. That’s when Valarie shared her heartbreaking story of losing Noah. Moved by her story, Lorene told Gerald about it on their way home.
Gerald and Lorene, who had raised fifteen children and had many grandchildren, understood Valarie’s pain deeply. They felt that the crib truly belonged with her. A week later, they came back with a special gift: a bench made from the crib that had once been full of Valarie’s 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,” she said. “Now I can sit in it, hold his bear, and think about him if I need to.” In the final days of her pregnancy, Valarie had noticed a decrease in Noah’s movements. On July 22, during a cesarean section, she and her fiancé, Jimi Hamblin, were given the heartbreaking news that Noah wasn’t breathing. The doctors later explained that his umbilical cord had tightened, cutting off his oxygen.
Gerald and Lorene, who had also faced the loss of a grandchild to stillbirth, deeply empathized with Valarie’s grief. Gerald understood how an unused crib could be a painful reminder. “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 to accept any payment for the bench. “It’s just nice to be able to help someone. Helping others is good,” he said with genuine kindness.
Valarie, who is planning to marry Jimi this autumn, finds comfort in the bench, which now sits beside a bookcase holding pictures, footprints, handprints, and ashes of Noah. The couple also has a 7-year-old daughter named Nevaeh. For Valarie, the bench has become a place of solace.
“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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