Double Trouble: What It's Like to be a Twin

It seems like there's a national day for everything these days—ice cream sandwiches, hot dogs, workaholics and twins! I recently came across a website for the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, OH. Today, Aug. 3, is the first day of the festival, and I figured it'd be the best time to write about one of my favorite things—being a twin!

My sister, Heather, and I are fraternal twins. Though we're not identical, I like to think we have an even closer bond than typical fraternal twins. You see, in the womb, identical twins share one sack and one placenta, while fraternal twins each have their own sack and placenta. My sister and I each had our own sacks, but shared a placenta. Cool, right?

We've always looked different—she's taller than I am, my skin is a lot darker than hers, she has worn glasses since elementary school, and she has straight/wavy hair she likes to wear in a ponytail while I have curly hair that I sometimes straighten and always wear loose.

Still, some people have had trouble telling us apart. Through most of our elementary school career, we had separate classes, so that wasn't a problem. But when we reached middle school and high school, we had some classes together and it took teachers time to figure out who was who. One teacher even referred to us as "the Doublemint Twins."

We always had to do things together. When I wanted braces, I could only get them if Heather did (boy, was she mad at me)! When one of us wanted to go out, the other one did, too. We shared friends our entire lives.

Though it bothered me a little bit at the time, I don't really care anymore. Sometimes, I even do things on purpose to make sure we wear the same shirt or similar colors. It annoys her, but it makes me laugh!

We argue sometimes, and I know people won't really believe that we've never gotten into a huge fight. We disagree, get mad and forget about it in a few minutes. I hold grudges sometimes, but I can't do that with her—it breaks me!

We both went to different colleges, studied different things and have different jobs. We've done our own thing post high school, and I think that has made us closer and appreciate being twins.

We complete each other. Where I lack, she excels—and vice versa. On a recent (and hectic) weekend trip, we did our best problem solving when we put our heads together. Really, we'd be lost without each other.

People always ask if I have that "twin sense," and I can honestly say that it exists. It's not like I feel it if someone pinches Heather or anything, but sometimes I can sense that she'll get sick before she does or I have sympathy pains when something hurts her. I'll wonder why I am feeling off until she tells me something is bothering her. Then it clicks. It's an amazing feeling to have a special bond like that with someone.

No matter what, she'll always be the person I love most, and I am so lucky that I've had her with me my entire life.

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