Monday, June 30, 2008

Royale with Cheese...


I was talking to a close friend today about differentiating twins.
I mentioned that my nephews Harrison and Jackson are the most identical pair of human beings I have ever encountered. The only discernible difference is that Harrison has an Alec Baldwin-esque voice that sounds like he smokes 4 packs of Lucky Strikes per day (that is excessive for a 5 year old).

I just cannot imagine my two nephews being apart. For example, once when Gail and I were babysitting the twins and their 3 siblings, all 5 kids went down to the basement to watch a movie… slumber party style. I went down there and found 4 sleeping bags. When I asked why there were only 4 sleeping bags, the middle child (Maddy) looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “The twins sleep together.”

Harrison and Jackson recently got a room to themselves, and they got bunk beds. When they gave her a tour of their room, Gail asked them who slept on the top bunk. The reply was, “Nobody…we both sleep on the bottom.” When I think of the twins, I just can’t conceive of having one without the other.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered the story of a different pair of twins who were separated at birth. This story is one of the things I learned when Gail and I travelled to Dublin recently. It’s a lamentable and cruel tale of two twin brothers separated at birth. One was taken to America, and the other was hustled off to Ireland. However, the DNA connection of these two was so strong that even though each never knew of the other, the very chemistry of their makeup carried them down educational roads and career paths that were remarkably similar.

It wasn’t until I happened to go shopping one day in Dublin that I discovered the story of TK and TJ….The MAXX Brothers.


“You know what the funniest thing about Europe is…it’s the little differences.” Vincent Vega, American Philosopher (deceased)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's funny. Little differences, indeed.

Here's another one that I noticed in that picture. The elevator is called a "LIFT."

Seems like we are only describing half its role in either of our references to that device. Maybe there's a sign on the top floor that says "DROP?"

Anonymous said...

Well, we invented the language so we can call things what we like and still be right!

While I'm at it, route is pronounced "root", not "rowt". But one does get "rowter" the powertool - from to rout ("rowt") and also "rooter" the internet thingy, derived from "root" as in "root" 66.

Also the "h" in herbs is NOT silent.

What do you lot call an escalator?