Whenever anyone used to ask me "What's it like to have a twin?" I never really knew how to respond. I would usually just shrug and say, "We're not identical, so it's really just like having a regular sister." However, as my twin sister and I grew up and went our separate ways to different colleges, I began to realize the true impact of having a twin sister my whole life. Yes, it is true that having a twin is like having a regular sister, but it is also so much more.
From the time I was born, I never was truly alone. When I was young, this would sometimes annoy me, as I would always get "lumped" together with my sister. We shared everything, our mom dressed us in matching clothes, and we always had joint birthday parties. In my childhood angst, I would continually get frustrated, feeling that I was never looked at as an individual, only as a part to a whole. It wasn't until I grew up a little that I realized that being a part of a whole wasn't a bad thing; I realized that what I had was a unique, special relationship that the majority of people in the world do not get to experience. Right by my side, every step of the way, I had a person who was going through all the same things I was at the exact same time. When our older sister grew to old to play our silly, imaginary games, I still had my twin sister by my side. Together we continued pretending to be spies or puppy trainers or scientists or mermaids or whatever our budding imaginations could come up with that day. When it came time to go off to pre-school and I had to let go of my mother's hand, I had my sister's to grab onto. When one of us was struggling on a school assignment, the other was always there to compare notes, hold up flash cards, or come up with silly ways to remember our vocabulary words. For every milestone, from getting our licenses to turning 18 to graduating high school, I always had someone right by my side to share the joy.
I never appreciated having my partner in crime until it came time for me to go off to college, where for the first time in my life I was left to take my next steps of my life entirely alone. Suddenly, I had decisions to make and I couldn't just look right next to me and ask my best friend for advice. Now, having finished a year of college on my own and being reunited with my twin sister for the summer, I try not to take for granted our time spent together. Because as we move on with our lives and travel on our separate paths, I will always carry with me the fact that the reason I made it this far was with a little help from my super awesome womb-mate.
