John Remembers Yam

A few days after Yam's 13th birthday, her elder brother John remembers her with a blog. John was the stem cell donor to Yam's bone marrow transplant in September 2006. He first made his blood donation to her maternal grandmother in 1998 when he was barely 15. He had been donating blood whenever he can.

John's blog about Yam can be accessed HERE.

Or, you can type this link: http://rjvb.blog.friendster.com/2008/10/thirteen/

Beautiful Memories Can't Fill the Void

Today would have been Yam's 13th birthday. Instead, this day starts the 7th month after she passed away. Yesterday was her 6th month anniversary.

As I woke up this morning, streams of beautiful memories cascaded through my mind and pinched my heart. This day would have started with noisy birthday greetings to our dear "bunso". Since today is a Saturday, we should be endlessly debating on what to do for the rest of the day - where to have a great meal, whether to go to the mall or to the beach or a mountain resort - on top of Yam's usual simple party with her friends.

Last night, Uncle Cito and Aunt Demi emailed from San Diego, California the pictures on this post. It is the jersey of their daughter (my cousin) Liza who joined a full 26-mile marathon to raise funds for a cause. Printing Yam's name on her jersey is a soothing gesture and a loving remembrance to a lost loved one. Printing her name in green - Yam's favorite color - is a bonus.

Memories now flash in torrents, so pleasant, so lovely, so joyful, so beautifully moving - her distinctive laughter, her matchless smirk, inimitable wit and irreplaceable humor, to name a few. They all bounce back and reverberate, so fresh and evergreen. Yet these memories, however pleasant, just couldn't fill the void left by such a loving child.

The void is so stark, one could easily be gobbled up in its emptiness. But in this seeming desolation are flickers of bright light shone by the caring hearts of countless friends and relatives. And in a very special way, friends we gained because of Yam.

We no longer could cuddle our lovely daughter, hear her peals of laughter, laugh at her witty humor, smile at her occasional naughty acts and bask at her small achievements. But we live on, at ease with her memories and the recollection at how much she was loved by lots of caring hearts. Thanks Yam for the beautiful memories, thanks to all our friends and relatives for your love and care.

The void? It makes us whole.