I have a brother who is 3 years younger than me. I wanted to buy a handkerchief, which all girls around me seemed to have.
So, one day I stole 50 cents from my father's drawer.Father had
discovered about the stolen money right away. He made me and my younger
brother kneel against the wall as he held a bamboo stick in
his
hand. 'Who stole the money?' he asked. I was stunned, too afraid to
talk. Neither of us admitted to the fault, so he said, 'Fine, if nobody
wants to admit, you two should be beaten!' He lifted up
the bamboo stick.
Suddenly, my younger brother gripped father's hand and said, Dad, I was
the one who did it!' The longstick smacked my brother's back
repeatedly. Father was so angry that he kept on whipping my brother
until he lost his breath.
After that, he sat down on our stone bed and scolded my brother, 'You
have learned to steal from your own house now. What other embarrassing
things will you are possibly doing in the future? You should be beaten
to death, you shameless thief!' That night, my mother and I hugged my
brother.
His body was full of wounds from the beating but he never shed a
single
tear. In the middle of the night, all of sudden, I cried out loudly. My
brother covered my mouth with his little hand and said, Sis, now don't
cry anymore.
Everything has happened.' I still hate myself for not
having enough courage to admit what I did. Years went by, but the
incident still seemed like it just happened yesterday. I will never
forget my brother's expression when he protected me. That year, my
brother was 8 years old and I was 11 years old.
When my brother was in his last year of
secondary school, he was accepted in an upper secondary
school in the central. At the same time, I was accepted into a
university in the province. That night, father squatted in the yard,
smoking, packet by packet. I could hear him ask my mother, 'Both of our
children, they have good results? Very good results?' Mother wiped off
her tears and sighed,' What is the use? How can we possibly finance
both of them?' At that time, my brother walked out, he stood in front
of father and said, 'Dad, I don't want to continue my study anymore, I
have read enough books.'
Father swung his hand and slapped my brother on his face. 'Why do you
have a spirit so damn weak? Even if it means I have to beg
for money
on the streets, I will send you two to school until you have both
finished your studies!' And then, he started to knock on every house in
the village to
borrow money. I
stuck out my hand as gently as I can to my brother's swollen face, and
told him, 'A boy has to continue his study; if not; he will not be able
to overcome this poverty we are experiencing. ' I, on the otherhand,
had decided not to further my study at the university.
Nobody knew that on the next day, before dawn, my brother left the
house with a few pieces of worn-out clothes and a few dry beans. He sneaked to my side of the bed and left a note on my pillow;
'Sis, getting into a university is not easy. I will go find a job and I will send money to you.' I held the note while sitting on my bed, and cried until I lost
my voice.
That year, my brother was 17 years old; I was 20 years old.With
the money father borrowed from the whole village, and the money my
brother earned from carrying cement on his back at a construction site,
finally, I managed to get to the third year of my study in the
university. One day, while I was studying in my room, my roommate came
in and told me, 'There's a villager waiting for you outside!' Why would
there be a villager looking for me? I walked out, and I saw my brother
from afar.
His whole body was covered with dirt, dust, cement and sand. I asked
him, 'Why did you not tell my roommate that you are my brother?' He
replied with a smile,' Look at my appearance. What will they think if
they would know that I am your brother? Won't they laugh at you?' I
felt so touched, and tears filled my eyes. I swept away dirt and dust
from my brother's body. And told him with a lump in my throat, 'I don't
care what people would say! You are my brother no matter what your
appearance is?' From his pocket, he took out a butterfly
hair clip.
He put it on my hair and said, 'I saw all the girls in town are wearing
it. So, I think you should also have one.' I could not hold back myself
anymore. I pulled my brother into my arms and cried. That year, my
brother was 20 years old; I was 23 years old. I noticed that the broken
window was repaired the first time I brought my boyfriend home. The
house was scrubbed cleaned.
After my boyfriend left, I danced like a little girl in front of
my mother, 'Mom, you didn't have to spend so much time cleaning the
house!' But she told me with a smile, 'It was your brother who went
home early to clean the house. Didn't you see the wound on his hand? He
hurt his hand while he was replacing the window.' I went into my
brother's bedroom.
Looking at his thin face, I felt like hundreds of needles pricked in my heart. I applied some ointment on his wound and put a
bandage
on it, 'Does it hurt?' I asked him.. 'No, it doesn't hurt. You know,
when at the construction site, stones keep falling on my feet ...Even
that could not stop me from working.' In the middle of the sentence, he
stopped. I turned my back on him and tears rolled down my face.
That year, my brother was 23 years old;I was 26 years old. After I
got married, I lived in the city. Many times my husband invited my
parents to come and live with us, but they didn't want. They said, once
they left the village, they wouldn't know what to do. My brother agreed
with them.
He said,
'Sis, you just take care of your parents-in-law. I will take care of Mom and Dad here.'
My husband became the director of his factory. We asked my brother to
accept the offer of being the manager in the maintenance department.
But my brother rejected the offer. He insisted on working as a
repairman instead for a start.
One day, my brother was on the top of a ladder repairing a cable, when
he got electrocuted, and was sent to the hospital. My husband and I
visited him at the hospital. Looking at the plaster cast on his leg, I
grumbled, 'Why did you reject the offer of being a manager?
Managers won't do something dangerous like that. Now look at you -
you are sufferinga serious injury. Why didn't you just listen to us?'
With a serious expression on his face, he defended his decision, 'Think
of brother-in-law. He just became the director, and I being uneducated,
and would become a manager, what kind of rumors would fly around?' My
husband's eyes filled up with tears, and then I said, 'But you lack in
education only because of me!' 'Why do you talk about the past?' he
said and then he held my hand.
That year, he was 26 years old and I was 29 years old. My brother was
30 years old when he married a farmer girl from the village. During
the wedding reception,
the master of ceremonies asked him, 'Who is the one person you respect
and love the most?' Without even taking a time to think, he answered,'
My sister.' He continued by telling a story I could not even remember.
'When I was in primary school, the school was in a different village.
Everyday, my sister and I would walk for 2 hours to school and back
home. One day, I lost the other pair of my gloves. My sister gave me
one of hers. She wore only one glove and she had to walk far.
When
we got home, her
hands were trembling because of the cold weather that she could not
even hold her chopsticks. From that day on, I swore that as long as I
live, I would take care of my sister and will always be good to her.'
Applause filled up the room.
All guests turned their attention to me. I found it hard to speak, 'In
my whole life, the one I would like to thank most is my brother, 'And
in this happy occasion, in front of the crowd, tears were rolling down
my face again.
STORY MORAL: Love and care for the one you love every single day of your life. You may think what you did is just a small deed, but to that someone, it may means a lot.
THIS IS A NEW YEAR CHOOSE TO START WITH A MENTALITY OF NO LIMIT. IN ALL YOU DO KEEP TELLING YOURSELF NO LIMIT.
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