“Am I seeing double or are you and that other girl, twins?” More often than not, I would’ve liked to have answered this question by simply saying, “ I’ve never seen that girl before in my life!” But there was no denying it. “Yes. We are Identical twins.” As soon as I would answer, the flow of questioning would begin. “Who is older? Do you like being a twin? Which one is the good one and which one is the bad one? Have you ever played any tricks on anyone?”
My sister and I are both waitresses at the same restaurant. We wear the same uniform and work the same shifts. And even though we don’t mean to play tricks on our quests and coworkers, it just sort of happens. We help one another when we are busy by running each other’s food out or getting a drink refill for a table. Some of our regulars know that we are identical twins. “Now, which one are you? Rene or Jessica? “ Others, often think that we are sisters that just look alot alike. And then, there are the baffeled guests that can’t believe their eyes. “Are there two of you?!”
Yes. I like being a twin. But then again, I don’t know how it feels to not be a twin. Before I was even born, I was a twin. Although my sister and I look very much alike, we are very different. And more often than not with twins, these differences are forgotton. Our sole identities lost and blended into, ‘one of the twins .’
On September 15, 1982, my mother gave birth to me at 1:19 pm. 2 hours and an emergancy seasection later, my sister was born. When it came down to naming their bundles of joy, they didn’t want us to have rhymy matching names as some parents decide to do. Mom wanted Jessica and Jennifer. Dad wanted Rene and Rachel. In the end, they split us like a set of matching ‘him’ and ‘her’ bath towels and named us their favorite. Rene and Jessica.
As most proud mothers of twins, our mom would dress us in in darling, matching, little outfits. From head to toe, two of everything! Looking back on it, I’m sure it...