A Brother Banished, A Brother Vanished, A Christian Brother Abuses

Weaving the theme of belonging, meaning and hope, I recall Tolstoy's opening line in Anna Karenina: 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way'. My brother Paul banished from home in his teens. My brother David vanished in his teens, his whereabouts unknown. 'The family that prays together, stays together,' says my mother, missing the irony of my two absent brothers. She warns me that if she turns against someone, 'that's it'. Frightened of being treated like Paul and David, I seek solace in religion. A Christian Brother sexually abuses me. Another brutally beats a boy for not understanding a school lesson. Religion was part of the air I breathed: at home, in school, in my parish of Donnycarney. On a contemporary note, I suggest again the benefits of online Humanist ceremonies during the Covid19 pandemic.