Built in Best Friend

So you know how everyone freaks out about twins..well I have a twin.  We are not identical.  She lives in Dallas with her husband and I don't see her nearly as much as I would like. And like my title says, she is my built in best friend.  It wasn't ALWAYS butterflies and roses.  Put two hormonal teenage girls together ALL THE TIME and see if they don't try to kill each other at some point.  Especially two girls who know exactly how to push each other's buttons.  Oh I guess maybe someone is wondering who came first, etc?  I was born 9 minutes before her.  My mom delivered us naturally. I came out first, she was breach so they went up in there (WITH THE DOCTOR'S HAND EW) and flipped her around, then she was delivered.  Add my two older brothers she delivered naturally, and my mom has the pelvic floor disorders to prove it.  I was 5lb 11oz and she was 6lb 13oz.  I have no idea the lengths.  I had a very intense hair growth pattern because my head was situated on my mother's pubic bone for a good 8 months.  She didn't even know she was going to have twins until the last two months or so.  SURPRISE! She gained 80lbs with her pregnancy, and on a very thin to normal sized woman, she just looked enormous.

We are very different, yet there are so many things that make us so similar.  We are such saps, both of us.  So many things make us cry.  And if one of us is crying, you can bet the other one starts crying too.  We both played basketball in high school, and I remember one day she hurt her hamstring. I had to go on to class after practice (WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO HAVE PRACTICE FROM 6-8AM BEFORE SCHOOL?) and she went to the training room.  She was crying because she was in so much pain and I just couldn't NOT cry with her.  I didn't want to leave her but I didn't have a choice. The summer after our senior year, she had knee surgery and I remember laying around with her while she recovered.  Her knee would be ok, but when it would get bad, my ELBOW would hurt. She thought that was just the funniest thing ever.  I can't STAND to see her in pain, physically or emotionally.  I don't what I'm going to do when she has a baby. 

We can go a long time without talking, but when we both know that if something is bothering us, we can just pick up the phone and the other is there for us.  Many times I have answered the phone to "Meg? ***SOBBING***"  It kills me that she lives so far apart. I think this is the longest I have gone without seeing her, because she hasn't been home since Christmas.  I am planning to go to Dallas to see her soon, so we will be up to our old tricks soon enough.  She is my partner in crime and is usually up for anything.  And she also makes me laugh like no other.  Growing up, she was always so silly and goofy, and I was the serious one.  She is just quirky and I guess I have more of a dry/witty sense of humor.  The story that makes me giggle the most is when we were in junior high, we needed to get physicals so we could play basketball.  My mom took us to the local doctor that we had been going to since we were little.  He's just a general family physician, not a pediatrician.  We were all 3 in the room, and Bevin (that's her name, sorry) was going first.  My mom and I were sitting there quietly while she got her physical.  The doctor turned off the light and was using his little eyeball examining thing (I don't know?) to look into her eyes with a light.  He would start out far away then come close to her eyeball.  I don't know WHY, but she got the giggles. Then I got the giggles.  She tried SO hard to keep it together, but every time he would come right in her face, she would snort and start laughing again.  My mom couldn't stop laughing either! It wasn't like we were intentionally being little shits, it was just hard to stop once we had started! Well, that doctor (who is an old fart ANYWAY) got all testy and WALKED OUT.  We thought it was hilarious, but we just sat there waiting to see what we should do.  Eventually, he came back and said "are we ready to be more mature now girls?" and she finally held it together to get examined.  P.S.  My mom never took us back to that doctor.  By this time, my cousin was finished with med school and we just got our physicals from her in our living room.  I pass his office every day on my way to work and I smile almost every time thinking about that.

We ran around with most of the same people in school, although the schools did make it a point not to put us in the same classrooms.  We had 1 history class together in elementary school and 1 Spanish class together in junior high.  (Humble brag alert!) I was also in the gifted and talented program, so I took mostly different classes anyway, so it wasn't really a big deal.  But hey, she's the one with the college degree now, not me, so it obviously did me no good. Funny story about that actually.  Since junior high we were always told we wouldn't be able to walk across the stage after each other when we graduated high school because there was a girl named LAKURSHA with our last name and she would go between us (in between B and M.) Well, at our school, they called all the students who were graduating with honors FIRST, then all those other losers (kidding!) so she got called, then I got called! Our entire family made up a huge cheering section, so it was an extended hooting and hollering and I'm sure nobody even heard my name. 

I still fret over her and worry about her.  I worried about her a lot in college because she was partying more than I thought she should.  Although I guess it was about the same as any normal college girl was, just not ME.  I rarely drink and I never partied, so any extra partying to me looked excessive.  I SUPPOSE she turned out alright.  Heh.

I was her maid of honor (OF COURSE) in October of 2010 and she will be mine once I get my damn ring and get my wedding planned.  I don't really remember much about my speech except something like "I've had the privilege of being Bevin's best friend for the last 25 years, and now it's your turn. It's a great honor to have. It involves lots of shopping, lots of sniffing every shampoo bottle to make sure you get the right one, a lot of laughter, but most importantly, a lot of love." Or something sappy like that.  Shocking, she cried.  So did I.  Here, let me show you how I was crying during their freaking vows.  (P.S. I don't like the way I looked in that dress, and I have lost more weight since then, but I will still be a good sport and show you pictures. GAH)

I was trying so hard to keep it together.  I couldn't.  She was sobbing just coming down the aisle.  Killed me dead.

 

 

Ok anyway, I guess I will show you more awesome pictures of us growing up.  We never did the whole dress alike thing.  I was more of a tomboy growing up and refused to let my mom brush my hair for a long time, so I had a boy haircut, and she had cute curls. You can usually pick me out because I had blonde hair until junior high. I also have blue (or green, depending on the day) eyes and hers are some sort of hazel-ish.

I'm on the left.

Us with our brother, who is 3 years older.  Me on the left again.

One of my favorite pictures ever. Me and my grandmother forcing Bevin to potty train.

Her on the left with cute curls, me on the right with a boy hair cut. Whatever.

Us with one of our brothers (we have other halves).

Us with one of our cousins. 

See? Different personalities.  She was a dancing hippo.  I was a..bug or something?

 We will skip over the incredibly awkward phase that every girl goes through.  Just imagine me extremely chubby and her with wiry frizzy hair. 

Ok here is us at 16 just after I had my wisdom teeth removed.  She kept me company...and laughed at me because I couldn't stop puking up blood.

I look thrilled to be alive.

16th Birthday pictures.

Us with our oldest brother, before our senior year homecoming dance.

My mother's four children at Bevin's wedding.

HOPEFULLY I will have pictures at MY wedding soon to show you all! I will be much skinnier by then :)      So do you have any questions about TWINHOOD?  It's really no different than having a sister.  I mean, she's my best good friend, but a lot of people can say that about their regular sister too.  I'm lucky I had someone growing up.  She may have pissed me off to no end sometimes, but I'm glad to have her.  I'm extremely proud of her and all that she has accomplished.  She's worked hard and she and her husband have a very successful gym in the Dallas area.  So, you know, if you need to  get in shape and you live up there, I'll give you the details.  Oh and thanks to Kammah for kicking my butt and telling me to actually WRITE something!