It is painful beyond words for a parent to lose a child, what more if twin babies die one after another. 

Losing twin sons is tragic for 29-year-old Jonathan Tumulak whose grief, he said, has lingered a year after the devastating incident. 

Jonathan, who ekes out a living as a mortician, said that the pain was compounded by the imperative to perform the embalming procedure on his twin baby boys himself. 

He learned embalming from his father who operates a funeral homes in Cebu City. As a young boy, he trained in the science and art of preserving human bodies out of curiosity. Later, it has become a source of income to support his family. 

He said he makes sure he gives out his best while carrying out his duties, citing he has to be more compassionate to "clients" while fulfilling his role as a good provider to his family. 

He never had the inkling, though, he would carry out his job upon his own sons. 

It brought him complex emotional turmoil, he said.

Jonathan and his wife prayed fervently for a child. When he learned of his wife's pregnancy, he was happiest. When he learned further that he is father to two babies, not just one, he was overjoyed. 

But the newborns lived only for a few days. As soon as the first boy was laid to rest, the other died. 

"Gipangayo gyud namo pero gikuha dayon," Jonathan said. 

He pointed out he decided to embalm his boys himself out of intense fatherly love. He performed the procedure with a heavy heart but is glad that he did it to, at least, ease the pain that his boys might have gone through had he left it to a less emotionally invested embalmer. He made sure that the boys would be handled with utmost care and respect during the process. 

The experience was agonizing, but he felt it was his final act and gesture of love that a father could perform for his twin baby sons. 

"Bisan patay na to sila, pero akong gihunahuna nga dili kaayo sila masakitan ba. Kon pwede lang nga dili, pero need man gyud nga embalsamaron aron mahaya,” he stressed.

“Kon mabuhat man gani nato sa uban, sa ato pa ba kahang mahal sa kinabuhi. Mao to nga nangunay ko,” he added. 

The incident happened in 2024. A year after, his heart has continued to bleed. He said there were moments he could not help but question God for taking away his sons too soon. From there, he would try to understand that the boys were there for just a moment to underscore answered prayers, how fleeting life is, and that we are just given a moment - the present moment.

The present moment gives us the blessed chance to live and act genuinely, and to love profoundly.