“...examines the complex relationship between the practical and the passionate self, the realist and the dreamer, and the importance of those moments in life that make you feel 'airborne.'”
—Erin Kodicek
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Feb 2010
Last night I spoke at a Mothers of Twins Club in Columbia, Maryland -- a great crowd of moms (and one Dad!) -- and one of the questions was about the physical intimacy of her toddler twins: how they sleep almost on top of each other and sometimes even put their hands in each other's mouths. She touched on something I've heard over and over again from parents: that there is a natural, instinctive physical comfort in being near each other. There's no clear science to support that the womb experience actually informs a twin pair's relationship later on, but twin after twin believes there simply has to be something powerful in having shared that cramped, dark space for so long. Two believers are Tiki and Ronde Barber -- football stars and identical twins. They told me they often discuss the intensity of having been wombmates, and their mom, Geraldine, describes how, when Tiki and Ronde were little, they'd impulsively climb on top of each other when they were taking a nap.
The photo I included is one of my favorites: "Reunion," taken by Chicago plastic surgeon David Teplica, whose other life is as a wonderful photographer of identical twins. (His work has been in places as esteemed as Chicago's Art Institute, so make sure to check out his website. http://www.davidteplica.com/mfa.html). David explained the story of this photograph -- how he was in the hospital, poised to take the first picture of his friends' newborn twins minutes after they were reunited in a bassinet (after a brief separation for their Apgar tests) and the first thing one did was stick his fist in the other's mouth. Teplica's impulse as a physician was to pull the tiny hand out so the twin wouldn't choke, but he quickly realized that this is what the twins had done inutero and they immediately recognized each other by that very gesture. Then they suckled each other's noses.
For me it's an image that says everything about how connected twins are, how ineffable, visceral, and deep our relationship runs.
(Ask "Dear Abby" any question about twins any time one occurs to you. Direct emails encouraged: apogrebin@gmail.com)
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