Valerie Watts was filled with excitement and anticipation, eagerly awaiting the arrival of her baby. She imagined all the joyful moments she would soon share with her little one, a thought that filled her with hope and happiness. However, her world was shattered when she gave birth to a stillborn son, Noah.
For most of her pregnancy, everything seemed perfect. But in the final week, Valerie sensed that something was wrong. “All week, I knew,” she recalled, reflecting on how her baby’s movements had noticeably slowed. “He wasn’t moving as much. I was very nervous.” Tragically, the umbilical cord had become compressed, and baby Noah’s life was lost before it had a chance to begin.
The heartbreak weighed heavily on Valerie. Despite her grief, she couldn’t bring herself to part with Noah’s crib. It stood as a painful reminder of the child she had lost, but letting it go felt impossible. The crib, along with other baby items, remained in her home as she mourned her son’s passing.
One day, Gerald Kumpula, a man from a nearby town, attended a garage sale held by Valerie’s family. While browsing, he noticed the crib. It wasn’t actually for sale, but something about it caught his eye. Kumpula, who had a workshop where he crafted furniture, asked Valerie if she would be willing to sell it to him. “When he asked me if I was selling that, that he made benches, I hesitated,” Valerie admitted. At the time, neither of them fully understood the emotional significance behind the crib.
As Kumpula’s wife looked through some of the baby clothes, she casually asked Valerie about her son, assuming he had outgrown the crib. It was then that Valerie explained her heart-wrenching story — her baby had passed away in July. Only then did Kumpula realize the deep connection Valerie had to the crib.
Moved by the story, Kumpula knew he couldn’t simply take the crib. Instead, he decided to turn it into something meaningful. After transforming the crib into a bench, he returned it to Valerie as a gift.
The moment she saw the bench, Valerie was overwhelmed with emotion. “I started crying instantly,” she said. The bench, made from the crib meant for her son, became a powerful symbol for Valerie. While it reminded her of the painful loss she had endured, it also brought comfort. In a way, it allowed her to hold onto Noah’s memory in a new, meaningful way.
