“Just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,” Wait a minute here! What about the second or the third?
I was born as a second boy in the family. You can tell by just looking at me, easy and outgoing, quick to read and adjust. To me, my older brother was too slow and naïve to have a big ambition. But, everybody loved him because he was the first son of my father who was the first son in the family as well which means in Korea my brother has a special duty for the Kims in terms of family affairs especially conducting ancestral venerations. I was not happy to inherit old clothes that my brother wore before and I tried hard to catch up him but I couldn’t because there is always a three-year gap between us—he was in the high school when I went to the middle school; he in the university I in the high school; he in the university back I in the military. Every experience was new to the family because of my brother and yet it came to my turn it seemed secondary and lost attention.
I still remember my younger brother’s surprising coming to the family when I was five years old. On those days in Korea, it was common to give birth at home. When my mother was in labor helped by a midwife in the village, my brother and I were in the room next to it. My father was outside anxiously waiting for something that never happened to the family: a newborn girl. Finally the new life was born and the midwife shouted with joy, “It is a boy!” Immediately we heard the big bang sound of the outdoor slammed and my mom cried. Now what? I became in the middle of three brothers! Needless to say, it was not easy to find my place as the parents took care of the youngster with such love.