As expecting parents do, Valerie Watts prepared for the birth of her baby—clothes and toys were bought and a crib was ready for his arrival. Days before Watts was due to give birth, she had a feeling something was wrong. The baby boy she was expecting seemed to be moving less and less. The days leading to her delivery culminated in tragedy as she delivered a stillborn, her little boy Noah.
The following year, in Cokato, MN, while holding a garage sale Watts was approached about selling Noah's crib—something not part of the sale and a piece of Noah she wasn't sure she was ready to let go of. She eventually, and hesitantly, sold the crib to Gerald Kumpula, a local craftsman who converts unconventional objects to benches.
Kumpula loaded the crib into his truck, unaware of the story behind it. It wasn't until later when Kumpula's wife asked Watts how hold her child was that they heard the heartbreaking story. On their way home, Kumpula and his wife decided the crib would make its way back to its original home, slightly changed.
A week later, as baby booties, and ceramic angels sat along side a frame filled with inky footprints, in memory of baby Noah, Watts was faced with an emotional surprise.
Kumpula arrived at her house to return the crib, now converted to a memorial bench—an unexpected act of kindness from a total stranger.
Courtesy of FOX 9
