Ten years after my beloved brother Basil’s passing I can still remember that morning in the U.S., when amid the business of the morning rush to work and school on Feb. 14, 2005, we heard the NPR news mention a big explosion in Beirut. It was already afternoon in Beirut. The report was vague but ominous. The phone call that followed corroborated my worst fears. Basil survived the blast that took the life of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and many others, however, after a valiant struggle and the best efforts of the medical community, my brother succumbed to his injuries on April 18 that year.

Basil and I grew up in Beirut in a small nuclear family surrounded by many cousins, second cousins and friends with whom we still share dear memories of that idyllic childhood and the games we played during our summers in the mountains and at the beach. 

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