The loss of a loved one is often the hardest thing any human being can go through. Today, I honor the many women who have endured the pain of outliving their child and most importantly, who have found the spirit to forge ahead.
My grandmother, Fredesvinda Hernandez Magno was such a woman. She lost two children to disease in the early 1940′s — shortly before the start of World War II and a short time after war ended. Not living to see their fourth birthdays, Idilio and Emilia Crysantemo were not often spoken of at family gatherings — as far as the next generations can recall. No one can remember a commemorated birthday or anniversary. Their brood’s eldest, Carlo Ricardo, who was himself a very small child when his siblings passed, shares faint memories he had of his little brother and little sister:
Idilio Hernandez Magno was born in 1937 in Iloilo City, Iloilo. He is remembered as a handsome boy with Dravidian features. Idilio died of meningitis in 1940 at the age of 3, and was buried at the public cemetery in Iloilo City. In 1948, his parents were blessed with another baby whose face perfectly resembled his. The child was named in his memory — Perfecto Idilio Hernandez Magno.
Emilia Crysantemo Hernandez Magno was born in 1942 in Mandaluyong City. Nanette — remembered as a beautiful, playful child with soulful eyes. At age 2, she developed a lump, which was the beginning of a more serious infection. She soon succumbed to diphtheria. She was buried at the Aglipayan Cemetery in Mandaluyong City.
