Twinship

Their first names seemed to be only a formality - they were always the twins. They lived in the same house and seemed to be forever destroying the same things, banging on the same drums or involved in equally uninteresting things. They were identical twins and to me, identical. They were my first cousins on my father's side and about my age. However, the truth of the matter is that I had little desire to know them well enough to tell them apart or know them as individuals.

I have a large extended family of aunts, uncles, and first cousins. My twin cousins had three other siblings. On the occasional visit to their home, invariably there were other families and cousins as well, so I had many options for socializing. I barely knew the twins.

Twins have a unique bond and relationship that most of us will never know. Many older school identical twins saw themselves as a unit even through adulthood, living together, wearing identical clothes, etc. My twin cousins were not that extreme, however, they were addressed and treated as a unit for as long as I can remember.

Recently on my way to a taping session of the Ferris Butler Program, I was taken aback by two women who just exuded twinship. I loved their hats - they were so striking. They both had very similarly styled full-length down jackets, one brown, one green. Everything was bathed in a yellow/green light. I did not get the opportunity to chat with these women on my short subway ride and learn about their relationship. We share a twinship on this one, because your guess is as good as mine :)

Note: I am very happy to report that I have begun to know the twins better as adults. I recently spent an afternoon chatting with one and found him to be one of the nicest, most thoughtful people I have met. Now that I think about it, I'm not absolutely sure which one it was and also, I think his brother might be really nice too :)