I can't relate to the weak who hasn't tried. I relate to the weak who had no choice but to try and try, becoming strong before they know it.

There's this story I know about a boy who his family believed is weak. But weak in what aspect? I don't honestly know.

His mother fear he'll commit suicide so she lets him do what he wants. Stay at home doing nothing. Just eat and breathe is all. He suffers from an illness undetermined. He doesn't even go to get checked up. The offer is there on the table, but he never goes out.

His elder brother who provides for them though, he disagrees.

It's an ongoing argument.

The elder brother wants his younger sibling to try and find a job. The mother cries every time he says it, insisting her younger child is physically sick and mentally weak and she'd rather they go hungry than see her child die. The younger child himself locks himself inside his room and goes on hunger strike when asked to get a job.

The elder brother feels like screaming. I would know. I was there when he did. I listen to him talk and feel a tug at my heart. I don't know how to help. It's their family's battle.

But I for one can't understand the mother for siding with the younger brother.

My friend (the elder brother) is like me in that regard. Shouldering weights that are meant for broader shoulders. But he held them all, and went the extra mile.
But that put his dreams on hold. That limits the opportunities and risks he's allowed to take. He tells me it doesn't feel like a happy life. I pat him on the head because what else can I do?
He tells me he doesn't want to leave them but that he also wants to feel free.

I don't know how to help because we made the same choice. Responsibilities like ours...Sometimes, they feels like power. Sometimes, they feel like shackles.

But then we wouldn't trade it for the alternative. Better to have someone to carry than not have any one at all.