The best medicine

{We look alot a like. But we are not alike.
I'm loud, she's quiet,
I'm serious, she's a riot.
We're totally, totally, different, different
identical twins.
I am not a duplicate, I am not a clone,
a copy cat, a second scoop on an ice cream cone.
Friends, pals, partners, chums
but we're marching to different drums.}
This is a song, sung by the Olsen twins when they were little, that we would sing to the girls when they were young.


Kaitlin is Elizabeth's best medicine. I have always been in awe of twinship as I have a front row seat to watching the bond of twins. Still, I am not a twin mom who dresses the girls alike, refers to them as "the twins" or even encourages them to be extra close. I believe that though they are identical twins who share the same DNA, they are their own people who deserve to be treated as individuals.
I cannot deny the natural, animal-like instinct that is being a twin, though. I have written how the girls have pushed their beds together to sleep close to each other and how they even touch eachother's hands or arms without ever noticing, it seems. I think it is most striking because if you know Elizabeth and Kaitlin, you are aware of how incredibly different the girls are. So different in fact, I would bet that they would not be friends if they were not sisters.
In the last month, it is undeniable to watch how the girls have been literally holding each other up. They don't care to have play dates and Kate even turned down a trip to the barn to see the horse this week in order to be with Liz. They are always together and sit close (even in the same chair) and talk in whispers. It is as though they have come alongside eachother during this difficult time for Liz; supporting Liz while she is sick, and Kate while she is sad and frustrated, in a way only a twin could.

It makes me teary to even think about because it is amazingly special and I am so grateful it exists. Before their were words, the girls would stop crying and be soothed once their twin was placed next to them in the bassinet (you hear this often and in fact, it is a technique used in NICU's). 10 years later, the girls still find comfort in being close to one another, even without words, holding their sister up in a way only they can.