If you've seen me once, you've seen me twice!

Imagine if you will, walking down the familiar streets of Maplewood when a complete stranger gives you a large smile and a confident “Hello.” You give a shy smile, say hello, and move on. A few minutes later, the same thing occurs; again, you smile shyly and say hello.

Then imagine that this scene plays itself out several more times in various locations around town throughout the day. More strangers, more friendly hellos, more awkward moments for you. Must be some kind of scene from The Twilight Zone, right?

Nope, no television episode here, just an ordinary day in my life. I am an identical twin, and when I say identical, I mean IDENTICAL. Heck, sometimes even our kids mix us up (happily, not our husbands)!  When Linda, my twin sis, and I look back at pictures of us growing up often we aren’t sure who is who – now that’s identical!

I have lived here in Maplewood for nine and half years, and for the first five of those years my sister was overseas. As most of us do, I made loads of friends and was quietly lobbying for my sister to move here as well.

One lucky day I found out Linda and her family were relocating to the NY metro area – which could only mean one place, Maplewood! Those friends of mine in town who knew her were almost as happy for me as I was – perhaps they realized they were gaining an instant new friend in town as well.

Linda moved close to where I live, further acquainted herself with my friends and also made new friends of her own. It was strange to see Linda in “my” town talking with people I had never met; yet I was excited at the same time. Any friend of Linda’s typically becomes a friend of mine fairly quickly.

And sure enough, that’s what happened. I now have twice as many friends in town, perhaps more than that, all due to the fact that I am a twin. Those awkward moments when someone thinks they know me but actually only know my sister often turn into fun introductions to a new friend in town.

Unfortunately for those who make this mistake, the embarrassment is usually paralyzing. I can see it in their faces, the moment they realize they’ve made the “unforgivable” error of calling me by my sister’s name. Usually it’s followed by a lot of nervous laughter on the other person’s part, and I do my best to reassure the person that it isn’t a big deal; Linda does the same when she is the one who was mistaken.

And we really do mean it – it is no big deal. We have been mistaken for each other our entire lives so this is all part of life for us. Of course, when our father or another close family member makes the mistake we chide them a bit, though it is usually in jest and we can all laugh it off. This is our normal.

In fact, for those years when Linda lived overseas and I lived here it felt strange to be unknown as the twin that I am. The fact that I am a twin is not the first thing I tell people when I we first meet (though it may be the third or fourth), so many people weren’t aware of my “twinness.” For them, it was probably easier, for me it felt foreign.

But that’s how people must feel when they meet Linda and mistake her for me or vice versa – foreign. I have had many people apologize for making the error; they must berate themselves for making the mistake and appear to feel terrible about it for days following. If I see them a few days later it isn’t unusual for them to apologize again, and nervously laugh about the whole incident. Yet to Linda and me, there is nothing to forgive.

So please, when you see me in town and say hello and my response back is “Actually, I’m Laurie, you must know my sister Linda” don’t feel terrible, don’t feel like you need to apologize. Look at it this way, you’ve just made a new friend – and we couldn’t be happier about that!