My dad was beaten as a child, as were all of his brothers, by my grandmother - my grandfather never raised a hand to anyone. Luckily for me and my siblings, because of that Dad refused to hit any of us so it was up to Mum to deal out the thrashings, which consisted of a light smack on the hand or if we were really bad a feather-duster stick to the legs (very lightly). She didn't relish it and definitely didn't appreciate having to be the bad guy because Dad refused to. Sometimes he would intervene because he couldn't bear to see any of us hit, even the taps Mum reluctantly doled out. Funnily enough though, he adored his mother and never blamed her, because she was a strong, tough woman for her time and he just accepted that's how it was.
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