Valarie Watts had eagerly anticipated the sweet sounds of her newborn son filling the beautifully decorated room she had spent months preparing. However, when her son Noah was stillborn, the devastated mother faced the painful decision of selling the carefully chosen items meant for him.
Reluctant to let go of the crib, she ultimately decided to sell it to a retiree for just $2. A week later, he returned the crib, and when Watts saw it again, she was overwhelmed with emotion. Continue reading to discover this touching story!
Not a single day passes without Valarie Watts, now Hamblin, thinking of her baby boy Noah, who was stillborn on July 22, 2013.
“I had a feeling all week,” Watts from Minnesota shared with FOX 9. She recounted how she had stopped feeling Noah’s movements just weeks before his birth, saying, “He wasn’t moving as much. I was really anxious.”
A mother’s instinct is always accurate.
The umbilical cord had become pinched in the womb, leading to the stillbirth of Noah, who was to be the little brother of seven-year-old Neveah.
Garage sale.
Nearly a year later, Watts, who was 28 at the time, found the courage to let go of the belongings she had purchased for Noah.
However, she decided to keep his white crib, which she did not include in the garage sale she held the following May.
When asked why she felt the need to keep the crib, the heartbroken mother simply replied, “I don’t know.”
Feeling a deep emotional connection to that particular piece of furniture, which served as a painful reminder of her loss, she hesitated when a retiree named Gerald Kumpula expressed interest in buying it.
Gerald attended the sale with his wife, Lorene, with whom he has 15 children and numerous grandchildren.
“His wife was browsing through my garage sale, looking at some baby clothes, and inquired about my son’s age since I no longer needed the crib. I shared with her that he had passed away in July,” Watts recalls.
She then learned that Gerald, 75, is a skilled craftsman who creates benches from repurposed headboards and footboards. “It brought me some comfort knowing he would be turning it into something beautiful,” Watts said, who sold the crib to the Kumpulas for just $2.
On their way home, Lorene shared the story of the crib with her husband, explaining its significance.
Kumpula shared with FOX 9, “She seemed a bit unsure at first, and I thought she might not want to part with it, but ultimately, she agreed.” He added, “On our way home, we decided that this bench needed to come back with us.”
Memorial bench
A week later, Gerald visited Watt’s home bearing a heartfelt gift.
He transformed the wood from Noah’s unused crib into a beautiful bench.
“I was overwhelmed with emotion and started crying right away,” Watts recalled, her eyes filled with tears.
In a later conversation with Today, she expressed her feelings about the bench, saying, “It’s stunning. It made me realize that there are still kind people in the world.”
Gerald shared with Today, “An unused crib serves as a poignant reminder. A bench, however, acts more like a memorial. It reflects that sorrowful event, but it doesn’t evoke the same feelings as an empty crib does.”
To help her cope with her loss, the bench remains positioned near a corner bookcase filled with photos of Noah, along with his handprints, footprints, and ashes.
Watts describes the bench as a source of mixed emotions, saying, “I feel a wave of joy knowing it’s not just left idle. I can sit in it, hold his bear, and think of him whenever I want.”
She continues, “When I sit there, I find comfort in feeling his presence, even though he’s not physically here. It brings a sense of peace and reassurance. Whenever I’m feeling low, sitting on the bench helps me feel better, reminding me that everything will be alright.”
Watts tied the knot with Noah’s dad, Jimi Hamblin, in 2014. Each year, on the anniversary of her son’s passing, she honors Noah with a heartfelt tribute on her Facebook page.
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