My Son Hassan’s Birthday By Hossam Badrawi

My Son Hassan’s Birthday

By

Hossam Badrawy

The rain falls as if it foretells the coming of good

On the evening of Friday, October 22, 1976, neither too hard to cause difficulties nor too light to be felt.

You are in your mother’s womb knocking on the door to life, and the pains of your nine-month contractions tell us to get ready, and we are all eager and longing to see you.

Location: El-Shebraweeshy Hospital at midnight, and your uncle Hamdy is waiting to receive you, and your aunt Nadia is waiting to take care of you after birth, and I am worried because the course of birth does not seem paved.

We did not have today’s technology or the devices that monitor and give signals, and everything depended on clinical sense and medical skill.

It is three in the morning, and your heartbeat tells us that you are upset about your situation, and your mother’s pain is increasing, so we did not use painkillers in those days as we do now.

The decision was to perform a cesarean section to bring you out into the light of life so that you will become the light of our eyes later.
The operating room is not ready, doctor: This is what the doctor on duty said.

What???

The operating room is equipped in the second building of the hospital and your mother had to be transferred through an uncovered walkway and it was raining, so we grabbed a bed sheet over her and headed to the other building and your heartbeats were telling us to hurry up because she couldn’t wait any longer.

The horror was the absence of the operating room nurse without whom the surgery could not be performed. We didn’t know that she was on vacation and that the hospital did not cover her absence.

Your grandfather Abu Pasha, with the powers he had at the time, went himself with a police car to the operating room surgeon, Amira, at her home and summoned her immediately, so she came running to prepare the operating room and the necessary procedures.
Your uncle helped in the procedure, Dr. Jamal Abu Al-Surur, to get us out of the light weight, and your aunt received you with the recovery and resuscitation procedures to take your first breath, shouting at us, “Why are you late?”

It was five o’clock in the morning on October 23, 1976
Your name was easy, for you are Hassan like your two grandfathers, who were two unparalleled men.

You came into life and made our lives life, and brought a smile to our hearts, and joy and happiness to our days.

What can I say to you, my son, and how can I describe my feelings for you, as you are a distinguished child in everything, gentle in company, always smiling and elegant, and you have a special appearance that makes people love you, and everyone is amazed by your highness even in your childhood.

I look at you now and thank God for his blessing upon me, your mother, your sister, and your entire family with your presence, as you have conveyed your success to everyone and encompassed us with your love despite your hiding your feelings most of the time.

You are the dutiful, noble son, you are the caring and surrounding brother, and you are the loyal and helpful friend.
I look at you and say to myself, is this my effort and your mother’s or were we just the shepherds of your creation and genes that God deposited in you, and I believe that God loves you because He makes people love you, and He created in you the seeds of sophistication, sublimity and tolerance despite what appears from your harshness sometimes, and He filled your conscience with generosity and the ability to give without you feeling that you are giving.
I love you Hassan, I respect you and appreciate you, and more than that I see you as a father to “Kayan” with your tenderness, care and softness, and your care and love as a father to “Malik”, “Wahba” and “Sarah”…

If you want to get to know yourself when you were young, look at your son “Kayan”, it is as if I am seeing you again

Glory be to God
My pride in you as a father and my love for you as a beautiful person, and my pride in you and my admiration make you and Dalia the most beautiful blessings that God has given us.
Happy birthday, my love