As the mother of Debbie LaChusa and her twin sister, Valerie Stangle, I would like to share my story. My husband, Dale, and I had the girls November 11, 1961 less than one year after we were married on December 26, 1960. We wanted to start our family right away so you can imagine our delight when we discovered that I was pregnant with twins.
Twins were not as common in the 60’s as they are now. The grandparents-to-be were very excited as well.
When it came time to bring the girls home from the hospital after they were born, I asked Dale to bring the beautiful baby comforters that we had been given. I didn’t think about how slippery the comforters were.
I remember sitting in a wheel chair, a beautiful baby girl in each arm, ready to go home and praying that they would not slide out of their covers.
Once home, we had many bottles of formula to prepare and lots of diapers to wash and fold. No pre-folded diapers in those days and we did not have diaper service.
I always remember when Dale made a double batch of formula late at night and left it on the stove to cool as directed so he could put it in the refrigerator. He fell asleep and had to pour all the formula down the kitchen drain because we were afraid it had spoiled. He started over at 2:00 a.m. and made a new batch. That was a labor of love from a brand new father.
Keeping these two babies on some kind of feeding schedule so mom and dad could get a chance to eat dinner became a challenge. It was dad that came up with an idea! He tied a string to the mobile over Debbie’s bed, ran the string through the living room and attached it to the kitchen table. Because Debbie was the smaller of the twins, she would wake up first, fuss, cry, and wake Valerie who was still sleeping soundly. What a great solution - when Debbie started to fuss, all dad had to do was tug the string, the mobile would move, Debbie would be distracted and Valerie got a little more sleep before she woke up. And, mom and dad got a few bites of dinner before it got too cold.
When the girls were just old enough to walk and get into trouble, I remember one day when they were playing in their bedroom. All the sudden, it became way too quiet. I walked in to see what Valerie and Debbie were doing and found them having great fun pulling all my nicely folded diapers from the shelves where I had neatly stacked them. They were unfolding all the diapers and dumping them on their bedroom floor. Of course, I had to refold all those diapers and stack them up again. I can still see that funny picture in my mind!
As any twin and all mothers of twins know, Debbie and Valerie were great companions and always had someone to play with. Of course, there were fights; hair pulling and sibling rivalry but they also had a lot of fun. They have given us many good memories.
Joan McKasson
San Diego, California
I am a mother of identical twin boys. Gabriel and Ethan just turned 5 this year and are in kindergarten. My twin story happened when they were 4.
My mother wanted to spend some time with them, but she was never able to handle both of them at the same time. We decided to let Gabriel go for a visit for 3 days and then Ethan would go for 3 days. Ethan and I were driving in the car on our way to make the switch; he was sitting in his car seat as quiet as can be just looking out the window, when he tells me “Mom, tell Gabriel to get his clothes on.”
I looked at him and told him Gabriel was with grandma and he wasn’t here. He told me “Just tell him mom. He needs to get his clothes on.”
So I called my mom out of curiosity and asked her if she was having a hard time getting Gabriel dressed, and she said yes, they were having an argument because Gabriel didn’t want to get dressed because it was too cold and he wanted to stay in his jammies. I was so amazed. You hear about these stories where twins are so connected even when they are miles and miles apart, but when you witness it for yourself it is just mind blowing.
I am sure I will have more stories to tell as they get older. It just makes me realize how blessed I am to be a mother of twins.
Aiya Bryan
Silver City, New Mexico
I am the mother of 9 month old twin girls, Melody and Harmony. One of my favorite times of the day is when we all wake up. (We all share a bed.) If the girls are kind of fussy when they wake up it all stops when they see each other. They begin to smile and laugh. It is such a beautiful way to wake up every morning (even if it is at 7 AM!).
One of my favorite stories is of the first ultrasound. It was so great because the technician had started and we saw our baby and the screen switched back and forth a few times then went blank. This is when the technician stopped to tell us and our midwife that we were having twins! I felt truly blessed.
And then after that was the fun of telling everyone “I’m having a girl and then after that another girl!” And the pause of them coming to understand that I meant twins.
They are so wonderful. They are so fun to watch. Sometimes they fight over toys and when one has it in their hands they wave it in front of their sister’s face until they try to snatch it away. Other times they play peek-a-boo with each other and just giggle and laugh so much. I have always been fascinated with twins and wanted to have twins and my wish came true. Melody and Harmony are the most beautiful wonderful gifts from heaven.
Sarah Parks
Center, Texas
I’m an identical twin from Venezuela (but we don’t look alike, I’ve heard and read that it can be possible).
I’m very close to my twin sister,. In one opportunity we lived separated for one year because we moved to different cities in the U.S.A.
And we both got the same sweater brand and color at the same time! Later, we got the same picture camera!
And years later, living together back in Venezuela, we traveled to different countries and got the same present for our dad, a head massager, weird thing!
It was really amazing I think!!
Ana Cecilia Garcia
Caracas, Miranda
Venezuela
Prior to getting pregnant with our fifth, two people from my church at different times approached me and said, ‘Twins next time!’
With the first person I kind of just laughed it off. But with the second I got quite an attitude and said ‘Why would you say that!?!’
To which he replied, ‘I always wanted twins!’
The interesting thing is this was my Pastor’s wife and her dad that had told me about the twins. Neither one had said anything to the other.
Anyway, the pregnancy progressed and at 19 weeks, I found out I was carrying two boys. Which was also predicted by the Pastor’s wife.
I had my own twin dream that I was having a girl and boy. I think I’ll stick with her prediction. The other thing she said was ‘red hair’ - now I had to ask her if that was just a prayer request or another prophetic word. She said it was just a prayer of hers.
So I guess in the next few weeks I’ll know. My due date is June 3, 2008.The doctors are unsure if the twins are identical. It looks like one placenta, but it could be two fused together. Anyway, I guess we’ll need a DNA test to know for sure. I’ll have to update this when they arrive.
Pam
Fort Francis, Ontario, Canada
My twin and I have always had a strong connection. When we were babies we would always take our naps together (holding hands), and if our parents made the mistake of putting us in our own individual cradles, we would stubbornly cry until we were together. We even had our own language when we were babies though I’m not sure why we needed to talk, we always knew what each other was feeling.
A favorite story my dad always loves to tell, is when we first learned to crawl. You see I learned to crawl backwards before I learned to crawl forward, and my twin sister Brenn learned to crawl forward before she could crawl backwards. So for entertainment, my dad put us facing each other, but going one direction.
Devin
Oklahoma
Devin and her Twin, Brennah
Twins are rare and hard to find
But I love this twin of mine
We share our face and our birth
We cannot begin to describe their worth
It’s impossible I must confess
Twins (simply put) are priceless
Twins are like a diamond in the rough
They sparkle and shine even when things get tough
Bonds that never break
No matter how much you give and take
Bonds that are strong to the end
No matter how far they’re a friend to the end
God’s gift only to a certain few
Only wish the rest only knew
Wish they knew the love
that they only hear talk of
With her by my side I’m sure to win
I will always love my twin
Devin
Oklahoma
I was born August 11, 1986 in South Korea. I am 21 years old and was adopted by my American parents at four months old.
Just this last May of 2007, I learned I was a twin separated at birth. My twin coincidentally learned of my existence several months later, in September. Because of that coincidence, she began searching for me, as I already had begun searching for her. If not for her search, I would likely never have found her, or known if she was even alive.
She lives with our birthmother in South Korea, and doesn’t speak very much English. The story was in the Star Tribune on December 30, 2007, with a follow-up story in February.
I wish I could be with her and get to know her, but the distance and the language barrier, and the lack of money make it difficult. I have met her one time and I will never forget it.
Emily Saunders
Forest Lake, Minnesota
My twin and I are like night and day. Fraternal, yet we share an unusual bond of hindsight and foresight.
We usually relate to one another in an uncanny way as if we can read one another’s thoughts before we speak.
If I have a headache it’s usually because she has a hangover.
We often think of one another around the same time and when she is in trouble I can sense it or I will dream of her before an unfortunate occurrence.
Our separation was quite difficult at an early age, as one of us was co-dependent on the other. We didn’t fair well in the teen years … separate friendships, different dislikes and likes, and we fought constantly.
Now that we are older we are always in contact with one another almost everyday.
Evelyn
Michigan
When we found out we were having twins, my husband and I were excited and delighted. We were both from families with twins and were fairly certain that they would be fraternal. We were really shocked when they looked so much alike when they were born. You really could not tell they were not the same baby, but we still believed that they were going to be quite different looking, eventually … NOT!
The first connection that we really saw was in the NICU, very early on. They would cry to each other from the isolettes. The first born, Ethan, would cry first, then Eric, and then back to Ethan, and then they would sleep. It was kind of cute and they did this religiously when they went to sleep. We think that they had to hear each others voices.
That was different but the really strange things happened about three days after they were born. Ethan was terrible about removing his IV, so it had to be put back in several times. The last time they put it in his head. We all gathered to watch this being done. Ethan was on the table in the regular baby nursery (separated by a thick glass wall from the NICU) and Eric was in his isolette in the room with us and the other nurses. They cleaned Ethan’s head and found a vein - as soon as they stuck him with the needle - Eric burst into a pained wail and cried uncontrollably for several minutes. We all got the chills. Ethan never even cried. The nurses were freaked, I was freaked and my husband just laughed and said, “OH NO! We’re in trouble!”
This has happened so many times now, that I cannot count and we have gotten used to it. There is definitely something there. They are almost five years old now and are so strangely in sync. They still get me sometimes … they will walk in a room, say Eric first, ask me a random question and then go to his room. Ethan will come in (from somewhere else) and ask the same question and then go to his room. It is just little things like that most of the time.
They had girlfriends in Preschool for the first time, just like little kids do. They are in separate classes and still picked “girlfriends” with the same name that could easily have been sisters.
They have nightmares on the same night, too. If one wakes up with a nightmare, within an hour or two the other will be up with a nightmare, too.
So many strange things that they do, I cannot even put them all down. They can tell you when the other is hurt and how. They can tell you what they other is thinking or why they are crying or upset, even if they were not there for what happened. It actually worked out good when they were toddlers because I could get the story from either one most of the time, even if he was not there.
Our friends sometimes get freaked out, but I just have gotten used to it and don’t even think about it much now.
Joyce Davis
Tyler, Texas
