Valarie Watts experienced a heartbreaking tragedy in July when she delivered her son, Noah, stillborn. In her grief, she decided to sell most of the baby items she had eagerly bought for Noah, unable to bear seeing them anymore.
Among these items was a white crib, a special piece she just couldn’t let go of. So, during her yard sale last month, she didn’t put it up for sale. But then Gerald Kumpula, a 75-year-old retiree, noticed the crib and asked if he could buy it.
Gerald, a craftsman known for making benches out of old headboards and footboards, must have seen something special in that crib. Valarie, though hesitant, eventually agreed to sell it when she learned what Gerald planned to do with it. “I was kind of at peace with it because he’d be making something nice,” Valarie said. She let it go for just two dollars.
While at the yard sale, Gerald’s wife, Lorene, spotted some baby clothes and asked Valarie how old her son was. That simple question led Valarie to share her heart-wrenching story of loss with Lorene.
On their way home, Lorene told Gerald about Valarie’s tragic experience. The Kumpulas, who had 15 children and many grandchildren, knew the deep pain Valarie was feeling. They decided the crib belonged with Valarie. So, a week later, they returned to her home with a beautiful surprise—a bench crafted from the very crib she had reluctantly sold.
When Valarie saw the bench, she was deeply moved. “It’s beautiful,” she said in an interview with TODAY.com. “There are still good people out there,” she reflected, feeling the kindness of the Kumpulas in that moment.
Valarie placed the bench in her living room, a space filled with memories of Noah. She said, “I’m so happy that it’s not just sitting around doing nothing.” Now, she can sit on the bench, hold Noah’s bear, and think about him whenever she needs to.
In the final days of her full-term pregnancy, Valarie had noticed that Noah wasn’t moving as much. On July 22, during a cesarean section, she and her fiancé, Jimi Hamblin, were devastated to learn that Noah wasn’t breathing. The doctors explained that Noah’s umbilical cord had tightened, cutting off his oxygen.
The Kumpulas understood Valarie’s pain more than most because their first grandchild had also been stillborn. Gerald reflected, “An empty crib is a somber reminder. 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 from Valarie for the bench. “Being able to assist someone is just pleasant. Helping others is good,” he said simply.
As Valarie prepares to marry Jimi this fall, she finds comfort in the bench. The bench now sits beside a corner bookcase in her home, surrounded by photos, footprints, handprints, and ashes of Noah. It helps her cope with her loss, offering a quiet place to remember her son.
“Even though he’s not here, I feel comforted by his presence when I’m sitting in it,” Valarie shared. “Everything has a calm, ‘it’s okay’ vibe to it. I can sit on the bench and feel better when I’m depressed; everything will work out in the end.”
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