After this mourning mom sold her dead sons crib at a yard sale, she was surprised when the buyer returned it a week later

Valarie Watts was heartbroken when her son, Noah, was stillborn in July. In her grief, she decided to sell most of the items she had bought in anticipation of his arrival. However, she couldn’t bring herself to part with the white crib, keeping it as a bittersweet reminder of the child she had hoped to cradle.

During a yard sale, retired craftsman Gerald Kumpula, 75, noticed the crib and asked if it was for sale. Initially reluctant, Watts hesitated but eventually agreed when she learned that Gerald repurposed old furniture into benches. “I felt at peace knowing he’d make something beautiful out of it,” she said. She sold the crib to him for just two dollars.

During the sale, Gerald’s wife, Lorene, noticed baby clothes and asked about Watts’ child. The conversation revealed Watts’ heartbreaking story. On their way home, Lorene shared what she had learned with Gerald. The couple, who had experienced the loss of their first grandchild to stillbirth, felt a deep connection to Watts’ pain. They decided the crib belonged with her, transformed into something that could bring comfort instead of sorrow.

A week later, Gerald and Lorene returned with a gift: a bench crafted from the crib. “It’s beautiful,” Watts said, touched by their kindness. “It reminded me that there are still good people in the world.” She placed the bench in her living room, near a corner shelf holding Noah’s photos, footprints, handprints, and ashes.

Watts reflected on the bench’s significance: “I’m so glad it’s not just sitting unused. Now I can sit on it, hold Noah’s bear, and think about him when I need to.”

In the final days of her pregnancy, Watts had noticed reduced fetal movement. On July 22, during an emergency cesarean section, she and her fiancé, Jimi Hamblin, received the devastating news that Noah had passed. Doctors determined that his umbilical cord had constricted, cutting off his oxygen.

For Gerald, the crib carried a somber weight. “An empty crib is a heartbreaking reminder,” he said. “Turning it into a bench makes it a monument—a way to honor the memory without it being a painful symbol.”

Gerald declined Watts’ offer of payment. “Helping someone in need is its own reward,” he said.

Now, as Watts prepares to marry Hamblin this autumn and raises their 7-year-old daughter, Nevaeh, the bench has become a source of solace. “Even though Noah isn’t here, I feel his presence when I sit on it,” Watts shared. “There’s a calmness, a feeling that everything will be okay. When I’m sad, I sit on the bench and feel comforted, as though he’s with me, telling me it will all work out.”