Moving on With My Brother Jasper
I'm almost in the end of reading A.J. Jacob's book, "The Know-It-All" (One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World), when I noted down the name A.J. & his wife Julie were planning to give their first child (a son)--"Jasper," which name opened up in me a flood of memories that were scant to start with. I jotted down in my things of list-to-do that I'd do a posting on my brother Jasper (which gratefully I'm able to do now). Turned out from my reading of the book that "Jasper" also is a variation of "Gaspar," one of the Wise Men from the East who showed up during the birth of Jesus.
Well, that's the same name of my brother, Jasper, who died seven (7) days after he was born. His twin, Jason, however, has survived him. Had Jasper lived, he would have been over 30 years old this year. Jasper's the bigger of the twins that our Mother gave birth to, when I was already in my teens (I'm the eldest among a brood of 7 children, or 8 including Jasper). I don't recall much about him, but I recall my parents were pretty excited about bringing up again a baby after many years of having no babies in our house then. It turned out not only one baby, but a pair of baby boys who were identical twins when born.
I also recall having seen our Mom falling into her face flat while pregnant to both Jason & Jasper while we were doing some marketing for food at the local farmers' market in our place then. But our Mother quickly regain composure and stood at once--she's just one strong woman, to say the least. When she gave birth to the twins, the doctor/s thought of giving her anesthesia after Jason came out of her womb. The doctor/s thought she could not handle the pain of giving birth to Jasper. This, I recall, severely impaired Jasper's ability to cry out loud when he finally emerged from the womb. The anesthesia weakened him, to say the least. It seemed like he was medically induced to die, in more ways than one, as he got groggy from the effects of anesthesia (which my Mother didn't really need, but could not voice out that time, as she would not really take anesthesia when she gives birth, as she told us one time; she knows better as she's a nurse). He just lived for 7 days, as I said. He was a healthy baby boy, and he was the bigger one between the twins.
I remember he was bigger & heavier, because we had a special baby coffin made for him. It was a white coffin, made of plywood. We held a funeral for him somewhere in Rizal Avenue in Manila, Philippines. We had him buried in a public cemetery also in Manila. It was a simple burial fitting for a baby. It was cloudy then. I remember we had some photos, but the pictures got lost somewhere during our transit from our house moving from our old apartment in Sta Mesa Heights, Quezon City to another location somewhere in Frisco, Quezon City. We visited his grave when November 1st came that year. I think we also visited the grave the next year. But in the succeeding years, we failed to come again for a visit. We failed to locate anymore his grave in the next years that we tried to join the droves of people visiting their dead traditionally on November 1st. His grave must have been occupied by other dead people after just a year or two. Apparently, the local cemetery authorities would dig up graves when the loved ones or relatives from the family of the living fail to pay for fees to continue using the lot occupied by the graves of their deceased loved ones.
I know Jasper's remained an angel, and he's now with my late Father, in heaven. Jasper's maybe hovering in the midst of his siblings from time to time. I recall hearing Jason tell me he'd see the presence of a baby boy on occasions when he was growing up. I certainly believe Jasper must have been reminding me, in his own little way about his presence, and this time, about his birthday (on March 25th), hence I finally got to finally write about him, his memory in my blogs.
Well, that's the same name of my brother, Jasper, who died seven (7) days after he was born. His twin, Jason, however, has survived him. Had Jasper lived, he would have been over 30 years old this year. Jasper's the bigger of the twins that our Mother gave birth to, when I was already in my teens (I'm the eldest among a brood of 7 children, or 8 including Jasper). I don't recall much about him, but I recall my parents were pretty excited about bringing up again a baby after many years of having no babies in our house then. It turned out not only one baby, but a pair of baby boys who were identical twins when born.
I also recall having seen our Mom falling into her face flat while pregnant to both Jason & Jasper while we were doing some marketing for food at the local farmers' market in our place then. But our Mother quickly regain composure and stood at once--she's just one strong woman, to say the least. When she gave birth to the twins, the doctor/s thought of giving her anesthesia after Jason came out of her womb. The doctor/s thought she could not handle the pain of giving birth to Jasper. This, I recall, severely impaired Jasper's ability to cry out loud when he finally emerged from the womb. The anesthesia weakened him, to say the least. It seemed like he was medically induced to die, in more ways than one, as he got groggy from the effects of anesthesia (which my Mother didn't really need, but could not voice out that time, as she would not really take anesthesia when she gives birth, as she told us one time; she knows better as she's a nurse). He just lived for 7 days, as I said. He was a healthy baby boy, and he was the bigger one between the twins.
I remember he was bigger & heavier, because we had a special baby coffin made for him. It was a white coffin, made of plywood. We held a funeral for him somewhere in Rizal Avenue in Manila, Philippines. We had him buried in a public cemetery also in Manila. It was a simple burial fitting for a baby. It was cloudy then. I remember we had some photos, but the pictures got lost somewhere during our transit from our house moving from our old apartment in Sta Mesa Heights, Quezon City to another location somewhere in Frisco, Quezon City. We visited his grave when November 1st came that year. I think we also visited the grave the next year. But in the succeeding years, we failed to come again for a visit. We failed to locate anymore his grave in the next years that we tried to join the droves of people visiting their dead traditionally on November 1st. His grave must have been occupied by other dead people after just a year or two. Apparently, the local cemetery authorities would dig up graves when the loved ones or relatives from the family of the living fail to pay for fees to continue using the lot occupied by the graves of their deceased loved ones.
I know Jasper's remained an angel, and he's now with my late Father, in heaven. Jasper's maybe hovering in the midst of his siblings from time to time. I recall hearing Jason tell me he'd see the presence of a baby boy on occasions when he was growing up. I certainly believe Jasper must have been reminding me, in his own little way about his presence, and this time, about his birthday (on March 25th), hence I finally got to finally write about him, his memory in my blogs.
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