Stranger Buys Crib Of Stillborn Child, And Does Something Wonderful

Valarie Watts’ stillborn child Noah left her in July of 2013. “All week, I knew,” she explained in comments to MyFoxTwinCities. “He wasn’t moving as much. I was very nervous.”

Up until that point, Noah’s development had been considered normal, but things took a turn for the worst in the final few days. His umbilical cord had become pinched in the womb, effectively depriving him of life and leaving Watts with an unused crib that served as a permanent reminder of her loss and heartbreak.

Permanent, that is, had a chance encounter at a garage sale not changed everything for the grieving mom.

Gerald Kumpula tinkers with converting headboards and footboards into benches. He has a shop on the outskirts of Cokato, Minnesota, where the Watts live.

One day in April, he happened upon the crib at a garage sale the Watts were having. The crib wasn’t a part of the sale, but he asked about it anyway.

“She was kind of hesitant,” Kumpula said, wiping away tears. “I knew that maybe she didn’t want to sell it, but yet, she did.” Watts confirmed Kumpula’s suspicions to the news site: “When he asked me if I was selling that, that he made benches, I hesitated,” she said.

Watts didn’t even realize the crib for her stillborn child was visible at the sale, explaining that Kumpula’s wife was looking “at some of the baby clothes.”

She then asked how old Watts son was, “since I don’t use the crib anymore, and I told her that he had passed in July.”

Reluctantly, Watts decided to sell the crib with zero suspicion of what the nice couple had planned.

Kumpula returned a week later with a gift for Watts. It was the crib. He had taken it back to his workshop and converted it into a bench in honor of Noah.

“I started crying instantly,” Watts said. Now instead of looking at the crib and feeling nothing but loss and heartbreak, Watts sees in it a symbol of kindness, comfort, and hope. “It’s amazing, and there’s good people out there. There’s proof.”

When covering the news, you happen upon a lot of unfortunate and terrible stories that it literally pains you to write about. Fortunately, people like Watts, Kumpula, and this police officer, do a lot to restore our faith in the human race.

The lesson here: there are opportunities to show you care all around you. For each one taken, the world becomes a little better place. Thank you, Gerald Kumpula and Mrs. Kumpula for showing us the way.