Double
As elder brothers and sisters are inclined to do, my brother and sister would tell me that I wasn't really their sibling. According to them, one day the doorbell rang, our mom went to answer it and, lo and behold, a baby was on the porch in a shoebox!Alas, it wasn't Moses chillin' in a box that used to contain Air Force One's. Nope, supposedly, it was moi.
Even though I didn't really believe this "shoebox on the porch tale," when I was maybe seven or eight, I began to wonder if I was not only a shoebox baby, but also if, maybe, just maybe I'd been separated from a twin. I wondered if that twin was left on some other doorstep with some other family.
This was, of course, totally ridiculous. I knew I didn't come in a shoebox, and knew I had no twin. But I pictured the fun we'd have tricking people and getting all Parent Trap on them. And let's not forget how cool and popular the Sweet Valley High twins were back in the day.
Fast forward almost 30 years and my nephew took this photo of me down at that Bean thing in Downtown Chicago. When my four year-old saw it, he remarked, "Look! You have a twin!"
"It's a reflection," I said.
"No, it's a twin! It has your hair!" said my son.
I went along with it so he'd hush up, but goodness, I couldn't help but realize, that my twin would have taken the plunge and already chopped her hair off.
So why haven't I done this too?
*******
PS: The twin can also write Diablo Cody a letter telling her how much Juno sucked.
Comments
I think you are beautiful - you'll love a shaved head. Should I come out to LA and give you a buzz??
OOOHHH, I haven't seen Juno. Educate me about Diablo Cody - I've heard other people say what you said, but I don't get it. She's like a hero in my little community because she "made" it.
ha ha! I didn't see it until recently and although I liked it, I felt like it had been WAY oversold. WAY!
I think we all just believe we're sooo awesome that two of us would be even better! By the way, I made that cornbread recipe yesterday. It turned out great! :)
Claudia,
I know how you feel about the craziness because it's why I didn't want to have kids for a long time. The hair might not be that short... maybe ear length. I dunno. I love Diablo Cody's story about making it. Didn't like Juno though -- I wrote a little more about why last night.
C,
Yes, waaay oversold! I was expecting so much and got let down considerably!
Ian,
Exactly. For example, if my mother-in-law complains too much that she hasn't seen me enough, I could just send my twin. Another reason I'm all caught up in the twin thing is that I just reread "The Thirteenth Tale" again this week. Have you read it?
Heartsandflowers,
"It was cool in the way a narrow minded emo lover would think is cool." That's SUCH a good way of putting it. It is very much from that POV. It was nice to see a female lead for a change. We need more of that.
Nick,
I always felt like it'd be a bad thing to dress twins the same all the time. But maybe the kids themselves like it and want it.
bygbaby
At some point, I hoped he was right and that my real family was out there somewhere, looking for me.
They say everyone has a twin. I saw mine in Madrid when I was 22. She was walking with her parents like the proper Spanish girl she was, while I was with a young man. She and I glanced at each other in passing and both of us gasped. It was like looking in a mirror except that we were dressed differently. No words were exchanged and everybody walked on. It was very strange and eery.