My Twin Sister and I were born 5 minutes apart. We
are identical. My sister, Janet, was born first and
I came out holding onto her ankle. I guess I didn't
want her leaving without me.
When we were 14 years old my sister got Hodgkin’s
Disease and I spent many days by her hospital bed
for fear that something would happen to her and I
wouldn't be there. She was in the hospital for about
five weeks and when she finally got to come home I
was the only one that she trusted to clean her
broviack (a tube that they put into her chest so
that they could give her chemo easier).
I sat by her side many times while she was having
her chemo and it broke my heart to see her so sick,
but I wouldn't have been anywhere else.
When we were 17 years old I became pregnant, and
like all teenagers my sister and I fought a lot, and
I remember my sister telling me that she couldn't
wait until I got married so that I could move out
and she wouldn't have to see me anymore. She even
told me that she wasn't going to miss me.
We lived in a small town in Southeast Idaho and as
soon as I got married I moved to Nampa, Idaho which
is about 5 hours away from where my sister was. I
cried all the way to Nampa because I missed her so
much!
The day after I moved I got a phone call from guess
who? My beloved twin sister. She called to tell me
that she was sorry and that she missed me already
and she wanted to know when I was coming to see her.
Since this day I have talked to my twin sister every
single day!! When we talk we usually stay on the
phone for at least an hour. Our husbands still don't
understand how we can talk to each other every day
for hours on end and never run out of stuff to talk
about.
She is my sister and my best friend and this world
would be a very lonely place without her in my life.
I guess that it is true what they say "Absence Makes
The Heart Grow Fonder." My sister's cancer has been
in remission for 16 years now. She has two children
and I have five but if anything ever happened to her
I would be right there by her side. She is the half
that makes me whole and I will love her forever and
always!
Jennifer Harwood
Grace, Idaho
