Feature

2013

An Anecdote
How my brother lost but won
by Hans Patrick Cabuyao IV - Wisdom

When my brother lost the contest in spelling bee, I was not far away. I saw how he failed. He
grimaced as if in pain. My heart cried for him. My friends too were very sad.

During the contest, my friends and I were rooting for him silently. The audience was prohibited
from making noise at the back seats or else we would be asked to leave the hall.

When he made that crucial mistake that caused his downfall, our world crumbled. The
champion’s camp was all cheering for their hero.

But we did not let this moment pass without us cheering for him, too.

My brother was smiling as he accepted his defeat. He congratulated the eventual champion.
The more we rooted for him. He is very sporty. That gesture made him even bigger than the
champion.

We were happy that he accepted his defeat. Brother won silver. Not bad after all.

Later in the day as we spent a blowout at Jolibee, he was retelling what happened to him. He
said he had a blackout. He knew the answer but no word came out from his mouth.

A psychologist said this kind of mental blackout actually happened especially in time of stressful
activity especially the harrowing spelling bee contest.
Brother thanked us for supporting him. The human being in him shone through. We realized we
were not different from each other. What matters is he was able to shine on that particular
moment.

We were sad that he did not win the gold. But when we saw he was happy with the silver win,
we too were elated. At least he did not take the loss seriously.

Indeed my brother is a star bigger than everybody else to us.