Double the Fun

A lot of people are fascinated by the idea of being a twin, which means twins are often asked a lot of questions when they’re together. My twin sister, Christie, and I have answered the exact same questions over and over again, as I’m sure the siblings on page ?? have done throughout their lives. But, for me, it never gets old and I always have my answers ready to go. We were born two minutes apart. It’s like having a built-in best friend. No, I can’t feel it when she hurts herself but I do feel anxious when she does. No, we can’t read each other’s minds. Yes, we have played tricks on people as adults, but we never did as kids.
Growing up, our parents made it a point to treat us as individuals rather than a pair. They gave us our own birthday cakes when we were young so we had our own candles to blow out, and they did their best to keep our birthday and Christmas gifts even, especially as we developed our own interests. My mom would dress us in the same outfit but we would be in different colors. I always chose pink and Christie always chose purple. It was most important to my parents that we were never called “the twins” but instead referred to by our names at all times.
Christie and I are fraternal twins, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at us. We actually looked so much alike as babies that no one knows which is which in photos if my mom forgot to label the back of it. As adults, we’re often confused for each other in grocery stores, at restaurants, and even for me at media events, when someone we know isn’t aware that we have a twin. I usually have a laugh with the person, ask for a name, and report back to my sister. She just tells me that she ran into someone who knows me but that’s it – no names or anything. I guess that’s the journalist in me.
I feel lucky that I am one half of a set of twins. I always had someone to play with as a kid and was never bored. I’ve always had two closets – mine more casual and Christie’s trendier. But most of all, I’ve always had a best friend around who understood what it was like when other people were seeing double.