Freddie’s Fun House will honor the legacy of 5-year-old Freddie Solum.

MINNEAPOLIS — Upon moving to south Minneapolis, it was one of the first things they noticed.  

“There’s just these little libraries all over,” Lauren Solum says.

Lauren’s son, Freddie, loved the libraries. Born with a natural curiosity, Freddie saw them as chests filled with hidden treasure.

“So, we would of course have to stop at every single one and look inside of them,” Lauren says.

But how disappointed Freddie would be when the libraries were missing kids’ books. 

“Pretty bummed, started complaining a lot,” Lauren says. “We’d have to find the next library to see if there was something else in there for him.”

For a year now, the neighborhood libraries have been missing Freddie.

“He was 5,” Freddie’s father, Mike Solum, says. “He turned 5 shortly after he began chemo in the hospital.” 

Lauren and Mike lost their only son last July.

“He was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma,” Freddie’s mom says. “And it was a brutal eight months to say the least.”


Now the boy who craved children’s books is going to be making sure his neighborhood never runs out of them.  

“This is the house,” Freddie’s dad says as he carries a freshly painted little library down the driveway.  “This is the fun house.”

As Lauren looks on, her husband and father-in-law install the library in front of the Solum home.

Minutes later, Freddie’s mom returns with precious cargo. “We brought our first bag of books,” Lauren says.

They are the books Freddie loved to read.

Lovingly, Lauren, and Hattie, Freddie’s 4-year-old sister, stock the library.

“’Bruce the Bear’ books were Freddie’s favorite,” Lauren says as she hands a book to Hattie to put on the shelf.


As much as Freddie enjoyed reading, he also loved sharing.

Freddie’s sharing will now extend to kids he didn’t even know.

‘“How to Train a Porcupine,’” Lauren reads from the cover of one of her son’s books. “That’s how Freddie learned to go potty.” Hattie giggles as the book joins the others.

Freddie also craved collecting, sorting, and giving away tiny toys, which he called his “trinkets.”


Freddie’s father looks at a large assortment of trinkets laid out on Freddie’s still-made bed.

“This is the fun house warehouse,” he says.

Freddie’s Fun House was designed with an attic for Freddie to also continue sharing his trinkets. 

“Just keeping that spirit going,” Lauren says.  

Margaret Munson of Children’s Minnesota, who works with families of children in hospice and palliative care, suggested the library. She also found a carpenter who volunteered to build it. 

Recognizing the tenderness of the moment, all four of Freddie’s grandparents stand back a bit as Lauren, Mike, and Hattie put the last of Freddie’s books and toys in place.


It hasn’t been easy the past year grieving the loss of a grandson so loved.

“He was such a good little boy,” Tracy Westhoff, Lauren’s mother, says. “He didn’t deserve this.”

Yet, Freddie more than deserves the library that now bears his name.

“That’s what we want to keep doing, is spreading joy in his name and in his honor,” Lauren says.

“Good job, Hattie,” Lauren tells Freddie’s sister once the job of loading the library is complete.

With that, Freddie’s sister, parents, and grandparents join hands, count down, and then raise arms toward the heavens.

“Freddie!” they say in unison.


Editor’s note: To further honor their son, Freddie’s parents have created a foundation to support Children’s Minnesota, Make-a-Wish and cancer research. For more information, click here. 

Boyd Huppert is always looking for great stories to share in the Land of 10,000 Stories! Send us your suggestions by filling out this form.