About Zwinal

Jarid, was born two and a half months premature. Following my lead one minute later, came my brother, Jordon. Twins! This happened way back in 1981 when the medical technological advances that are commonplace today were nothing more than hypotheticals in a science fiction novel. Our doctors didn’t expect us to last very long and who could blame them with all that we had going on; collapsing lungs, spiking fevers, spinal taps, chronic lung disease, asthma, jaundice, etc., etc. We were a mess. We had other plans though. We wanted to give this whole ‘being alive’ thing a shot. So, we hung in there and after about 2 and a half months and a battery of tests and barrage procedures we were able to go home.

Not all was right with the world though. As the two of us began to grow and develop it became apparent that Jordon wasn’t progressing as normally as I was. For example; Jordon couldn’t sit up like I could.

One of the etcetera that was suffered in the hospital solely affected Jordon: a cranial bleed. The doctors informed my parents of what could potentially happen as a result of the bleed, the worst of which was confirmed around the age of one and a half.  Jordon was diagnosed with cerebral palsy or CP for short. My family’s whole dynamic shifted after hearing this news. We adapted and became the unit that we needed to be. We learned how to accept and to love that much deeper.

Having a family member with a special need isn’t easy. The roller coaster that is life seems to be moving that much faster with lower lows taking you to higher highs all the while jerking you around so much that you wonder when you are going to fly out or explode. Not to mention, it is incredibly expensive. Boy, did my family struggle. But do you want to know what kept us kicking? It was the generosity and support of others.

This came in many ways; we kids were given presents to open on our birthdays or at Christmas time, food was donated or prepared for us, people would stop by simply to spend some time and genuinely be involved. The list goes on. Seeing this, even as a young child, I was grateful for these acts of kindness, a lot of which came from strangers that just wanted to help us out. This floored me and I always knew that I wanted to be that type of person. I wanted to help in any way that I could.

Jordon died two weeks and a day after our twenty-first birthday. He was the most amazing person and an inspiration to all that met him. His embodiment of life was beautiful.  After he died I struggled immensely. I had lost my other half. The survivor’s guilt was almost unbearable at times: Why was I the healthy twin? What kept pushing me along was to think of Jordon and all that he went through and remember the way that he lived and the way that he loved.

Eventually I found myself in the place that I wanted to be in life. I remembered who I was, where I came from and what I was capable of. Two of the things that I am really good at are drawing and interacting with people. I decided to recognize and utilize these skills.  In doing so I came up with a way to pay it forward, so to speak and give to families with children with special needs just as it had been done to my family. Thus I began Zwinal – The Art Possibility.

Zwinal is more than just a cool word. By definition it means; born a twin. What better way to honor my brother’s memory than to name my company after him and create a business model geared toward giving to those in need?