Photo by Jeffrey Alan Miller

One day, when my wife Aon was pregnant with our son Jeremy Aaron, our oldest son Bia wanted to touch Aon’s belly. He was curious why she had gotten so big not to mention curious about his baby brother inside.

No sooner had he put his hands on her belly when Jeremy Aaron kicked inside.

“Tokjai!” Bia exclaimed.

In Thai and Lao, tokjai is a word used to express surprise.

After Aon had explained to Bia that this is what babies do when they are inside the womb, Bia got to close to Aon’s belly and said, “Jeremy Aaron, why are you walking inside? Why don’t you come outside and walk?”

Bia couldn’t wait for his brother to be born. He told Aon numerous times that as soon as Jeremy Aaron was born they would play together, play football (soccer) go for walks and every other possible activity four-year-old Bia could imagine.

However, once Jeremy Aaron was born, Bia was sad and depressed. Jeremy Aaron could not walk, could not play football and could not even talk. All Jeremy Aaron did was drink milk, poop, and sleep.

“I want to play football with Jeremy Aaron,” Bia told Aon. “When can he play with me?”

“Soon, Bia. Soon.” Aon said.

To Bia, soon was the next day when he woke up and he pestered Aon again and she told him again, soon.

“Can Jeremy Aaron play football with me today, mom?”

“Soon, Bia. Soon.”

Soon would finally come for Bia and Jeremy Aaron. Although they haven’t started to play football together yet, Aon has told me they have been playing every day together and Bia has become a loving and caring big brother for Jeremy Aaron. They have become inseparable and Bia watches out for Jeremy Aaron. He gets jealous if family and friends spend too much time with his baby brother. Likewise, he doesn’t mind if Jeremy Aaron wakes him up early in the morning (6:00) to play and if his little brother pulls his hair or hits him on the head (to wake him up) Bia takes it all in stride.

As for Jeremy Aaron, he loves his big brother and in some instances, even empathizes with him. On a few occasions, when Bia is crying about one thing or another, Jeremy Aaron starts crying. And when Bia went away for three days with their grandpa to a farm near Pakse in southern Laos, Jeremy Aaron kept on looking at the door and outside expecting Bia to come back at any minute. And as soon as Bia did come back, Jeremy Aaron started laughing and smiling and ran, as much as a 13-month-old baby could to meet his brother.

Now that’s what you call brotherly love.