A Childhood Stand
A tale of brotherly courage
This story from my father’s childhood always inspired me because, though he was younger, he was ready to fight anyone teasing his family.
My father’s childhood was spent in Libya. They were a family of five parents, two brothers, and one sister.
Once, my father Ibrahim, 6 years old, and his elder brother, now my uncle, 8 years old, were playing in the street with some toys. There was another boy named Kabir, who was at that time 9 years old. He saw them playing with different toys. He liked the toys they were playing with.
He asked for some toy, but my uncle refused to give it. So Kabir bit up my uncle and took the toy.
My uncle started crying on this incident. My father saw all this from a distance and started running behind Kabir. My uncle saw my father running behind Kabir, and he also started running.
My father ran inside Kabir’s house, a few streets away. My father hit him and took the toy back. You can imagine how hard a 6-year-old boy can hit someone with his bare hand.
This is a story of courage and love for one’s brother.
Kabir, along with his mother, came to their house to complain to their parents, my grandparents, about the fight. My grandfather was laughing at Kabir about how a six-year-old boy beat up a nine-year-old boy.
But still, my grandfather asked him why he beat Kabir up. My father firmly replied, “I will beat up anyone who will beat my brother.”
My father told me this story to encourage me and remind me that for the family, we should show courage. We are supposed to help our siblings in hard times.
