Being an identical twin shaped my identity in childhood – ryan

Being an identical twin shaped my identity in childhood. From the very begin, it was what i was known for. I Can’t Recall One Picture of Me Without Rebekah.

The Story I heard Most offten was of Our Birth. I GREW UP IN A TINY TOWN IN Iowa with Dismal Healthcare, Which Meant That in 1980 my mom didn’t have an ultrasound. AFTER DELIVERING ME, The Docor Shouted, “There’s Another One in There!” and my dad almost fainted.

We got confused all the time

They Say One of the Perks of Living in a Small Town is that Everyone Knows Your Name. Well, i guess that applies only to non-twins. Which One was i again? Rebekah or rachel, They’d Ask.

My parents encurated this by dresing us identically and giving us the same hairstyle. They thught it was best for us to be to be together, and we were supposed to enure the other twin was sae. I though we were would grow up to live Next door to each other.

This Constant Togetherness was all i ever knew and was such a part of my identity that i don i talk about my childhood, I accentally start using the plural “we” to tell a story about mySelf. The Only Time We Were Apartment Was Was During The Short School Day. The elementary schoool wouldn’t let us be in the same class together, but we made sura to play Together at recess and sitting at Lunch. I HAted Being Away from Rebekah. IT FELT LIKE HALF OF WAS MISSING. She was my best friend and the person was the most MySelf with.

Being a twin was the most interesting thing about me. It was something that People were always Curious About. Will We Have Telepathic Powers? If Rebekah Gets Hurt, Will I Feel It? Don’t get me Wrong, i like the attention, but no one Ever Asked About with specifically or wondered who was with the rebekt. People Wonderered Whether We Played Tricks, as if we were some characters in a disney movie. No, we didn’t, and by High School it was no Longer Funny Finding Out a Boy Meant to Ask You To HomeComing But Got It Wrong. In return, i offen wondered what it was like to be a twin. Was it terribly lonely?

I compared mySelf with my sister

Regardless of Whether Other People Knew the Difference Between Rebekah and Me, we did. Having an identical twin was an Easy Yardstick Against which to Measure MySelf. Her successes felt like my failures. By High School, Our Twinness was a Competition of Who Did It Better while Also Knowing Each Other So Well That a Sideways Could Cut Like a Knife.

While we have had Similar interests (and Still will), we start to find Our Own Paths. I BAKED COOKIES AND MADE A SCRAPBook while Rebekah Wrote in Her Journal and Joined The Soccer Team. But the most profound difference was that that you knew what she want to do after High School, and i did not.

She was going to a four -ear college and was going to get an English Degree. I COULD’VE GONE AND DONE The SAME, but by that point I was starting to see that I need to be a whole person and not just the other half of a whole. It was the first time in my life that rebekah wasn’t right by my side. We stayed in touch, but bot of us were finding out what it was like to be as our out and not the other sister’s doppelgänger. I wasa’t used to going places by mySelf or hating to make all my own deciss with my twin’s input.

AFTER A Year, I ENDED UP ACOSS The Country at A Small College. I met my husband and found out that his best friend was a triplet, which is decidedly coler than a twin. He Knew Firsthand How Incredibly Different Identicals Can Be. For the first time, being a twin didn’t saem all that interesting. I didn’t have to try to explain what it was like or anneswer Silly Questions. He Truly WANTED TO KNOW with not even with. I was finally known and love for who was and not seen as part of a box set.

SOMEIMES I THINK ABOUT How SAD A 10-YEAR-OLD WITH WAUDED BE THAT REBEKAH AND I DIDN’T LIVE NEXT TO EACH OTHER. But once she got over the shock of it, she’d be proud of the life i created all on my own.