One and the Same Read Online Free PDF Page B

I’m looking for someone to marry.”
    â€œMaybe you’ll find her here,” I venture.
    â€œMaybe.” Sam laughs a little too hard.
    â€œWe came here for the first time years ago,” Dave explains. “And my ma was thinking we’d be meeting some twins, you know!” He has the same laugh.
    â€œMaybe that’s what you need,” I suggest. “Other twins.”
    â€œMaybe they’ll understand.” Dave nods. “As a matter of fact, one year, we got the address of two girls, and they were in North Carolina: Bridget and Ingrid—I still remember their names. And we wrote them and they never wrote back!”
    There are no data on whether identical twins are more or less likely to marry, but when it comes to divorce, research shows that identical twins are more alike in their patterns than fraternal twins. A 2001 Boston University survey looked at eight thousand identical and fraternal male twins (all Vietnam veterans) and concluded that genetics play a role in divorce, based on the finding that identicaltwins mirrored each other more often (that is, if one identical twin got divorced, chances are so did the other).
    The survey’s author, psychology professor Michael Lyons, explained that identical twins might make similar relationship choices because they share traits that inform their romantic interactions. For instance, depression, alcoholism, or belligerence (all inheritable) can contribute to conflict in a relationship, which, in turn, can lead to a split.
    Sandy Miller has her own theory: “A lot of times being a twin causes divorce because spouses don’t understand the closeness.”
    There are clearly many happily married twins at this fiesta, but for some reason, the lonelier ones—the more twin-entwined twins—make a stronger impression. They’re reminders that the idealization of twinship, so common in our culture, can have chinks. The intense intimacy can saddle a twin at the end of the day, because he or she isn’t equipped for single life, because no one else has ever come first, because for so long, having each other felt like enough. Of course it’s possible for twins’ interdependence to morph smoothly into independence, but this was only my first hint of many that the transition is rarely uncomplicated, let alone smooth.
    There are exceptions, like the Ganz twins, who make twin fusion seem not only joyous but profitable: They’ve made a business out of their impassioned twoness. Other twins similarly appear utterly grateful and unambivalent about having a built-in best friend. But some others remind me that, to varying degrees, twinship can cost a twin his or her self-sufficiency, and even his or her singularity.
    After milling about the fairgrounds for hours in the heat, I feel queasy. It could just be the smell of Italian sausage, the sight of so many Doublemint pairs, or the simple truth that I don’t see myself in a sea of people like me. Maybe I envy their jollity; maybe I’m baffled by it. For whatever reason, I’m aware of a certain claustrophobia, unsure whether to stay for the twins talent show or head for the airportearly. I call Robin, out of habit, not explicitly to seek her advice. She gives it to me anyway. “Come home,” she tells me. “Just come home.”
    ABIGAIL: Do you remember Becky Greenberg’s Halloween party?
    ROBIN: No.
    ABIGAIL: Are you kidding? That was a major event for me: She invited you and not me.
    ROBIN: Really?
    ABIGAIL: You don’t remember feeling sorry for me?
    ROBIN: No.
    ABIGAIL: I don’t think you went to the party in the end.
    ROBIN: Really? I boycotted?
    ABIGAIL: I think you did. Thank you for that.
    ROBIN: You’re welcome.
    â€¢ •
    GEE WHIZ
    In January 2008, a British married couple discovers they are actually fraternal twins who were separated at birth. They are forced to annul their marriage.
    In 2006, Lech and Jaroslaw