THE JOYS AND TRIBULATIONS OF BEING A TWIN
by Catherine Taylor

I consider myself very fortunate to be an identical twin. As a child I always had a like minded companion with whom I could share all my experiences and emotions. Our relationship has always been far closer than that with my other sisters and brother.

To outsiders, our conversations seemed incomplete and abbreviated; our understanding of each other was such that often words were unnecessary. Our emotional closeness as children left both other members of our family and our friends feeling excluded.

Instead of rivalry, we felt pride in each other's achievements, and enormous protectiveness. We complemented each other, she with her academic strength, often completing my homework, whilst I would ensure us both a place on the school hockey team by impersonating her at the team trial.

Telepathy has certainly played a part in our lives and small incidents - buying each other the same birthday card, or regularly trying to telephone each other at precisely the same moment - are surely more than coincidence.

There are disadvantages, of course, such as constant comparisons, and being rarely treated as individuals as we grew up.

I now have a close relationship with her children and feel as much concern for them as I do for my own.

Although I sometimes wonder how different our lives would have been as singletons, I am very grateful to be one of a pair and wouldn't be without her.

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