Describing a twin bond is hard sometimes. It doesn’t always mean we have telepathy, or that we can constantly finish each other’s sentences. It’s more of an intensified friendship. It also doesn’t mean it’s incesty. I know that may sound odd, but after watching the final season of Glee and seeing how the two twins (whos names I don’t even know because they’re irrelevant to the real cast), I know that such a strong sibling bond can be skewed. I have multiple brothers, all of whom I feel extremely close with.
However, my twin brother is just a bond that can’t be stronger than any other. The only really way I can describe it is through this creative writing piece:
On a quaint little silver shelf contrasting against my periwinkle wall sits a picture of two little bleach blonde babies in a plastic pool. The girl in the Tinkerbell bathing suit would be me, and the little boy would be Andrew, my brother. The resemblance is uncanny between us, except for the fact that Andrew was a tad more rotund in his face; in other words, he had chubby cheeks. We both had little turned up noses, and smiles as big as the sky. Some might say we look like twins…they would be right.
My mother and father have always treated us as equally as they could. We were brought up in a crazy, somewhat complicated household. We have two half brothers, Anthony and Brandon, and as much as we loved and looked up to them, we also learned what not to do from them. I guess that’s why my parents are hard on both of us, but we bond over that.
Andrew and I have done everything together: we have the same friends, go to the same parties, have some of the same classes and have most of the same interests. We can finish each other’s sentences (no, we do not have “twin telepathy”). We have always pushed each other to be better in school. We are competitive in a motivating way, always pushing one another to be the best we can be and supporting each other when we cannot. In sports, he has been my biggest supporter. He comes to as many of my volleyball games as he can, and through the college athletic recruiting process he was always there to keep me going, even when I faced rejection. I can say the same about him and baseball. I love watching my brother shine as bright as the stadium lights glistening down on the field. He has so much passion for what he does — it inspires me to also do my best.
Through sports, we both committed to play baseball and volleyball in college. I am going to Wilmington University, and he to the University of Delaware. At first, he had the “I want to get out of this small town” mentality. However, when I committed to Wilmington University, he started to change his mind. Even though he would probably never admit it, I do think that me staying here influenced his decision on accepting UD’s offer.
I believe that this is the biggest challenge we will face together: being separated. For the past two years, every July, Andrew travels to Atlanta, Georgia for a baseball tournament. For an entire seven days, I am without my twin brother, my best friend. We FaceTime, we text, we call each other because if we don’t, I feel like I am missing something. I get a sinking feeling in the core of my heart, the feeling that something isn’t there. I try to stay busy, that way I don’t miss him too much or feel like an only child, which is such a foreign and lonely feeling for me. I have to check to make sure how well he is doing in baseball during that week because his baseball career is just as important to me as my own volleyball career.
Andrew is not only my twin — he is my best friend. He has been here for me though times of celebration, rejection, heartbreak, stress, friend problems, everything. Going to different colleges is going to be tough. Despite the struggle it may cause, our bond is unbreakable. We were a two-for-one, and we will always have each other. College may separate us, but our twin bond will always keep us together. In one year from now, in my college apartment, that same old picture will be sitting on that same silver shelf reminding me of the most important person in my life.