Growing Up with My Twin

Being a maze-like journey of life, we often find ourselves faced with tests of spirit, relationships and one’s perception of the world around us. One such time came at a friend’s birthday party in which I witnessed the bond between my sister whom I would refer to as “4 minutes early” in this piece, because she always teased me about her being older than me, even though we’re twins, now it’s not my fault the doctor accidentally hit ‘fast forward’ on her birth certificate!

The party was going full blast and laughter was bouncing off the walls when the birthday girl started distributing gifts. In a spirit of spontaneity, I randomly picked out one gift to later realize it had an unpleasant color- red. I wasn’t so sad but 4 minutes early, who is quite empathetic, thought that I was feeling very sad. So we came up with a plan that was simple enough yet risky; secretly exchange my gift with someone else’s gift, which happened to be blue, my favorite color at the time. It turned out that this small obstacle served as a trust booster in our sibling relationship.

Our relationship can be traced back to the period of our childhood, where we were constantly at each other’s throat yet unconditionally cared for each other. Our relationship has always been a delicate balance of rivalry and unwavering care as far as I can remember. We would race each other to grab the television remote every day after school so that the winner could choose the cartoon or show for the period of time we were allowed to watch the television. At times it was something we both liked while in some instances it was completely opposite.

The jokes we shared, though now a blur in my memory, used to crack us up endlessly. 4 minutes early had an unforgettable laugh which sometimes made her fall from her chair or bed; she’d laugh like one of those cartoon devils. We didn’t have this special language they show in movies about siblings but we understood each other without speaking a word. A single glance at each other if our parents were shouting at us was all it took to understand what came next, and to prepare ourselves for the situations that followed up after the shouting.

We are siblings and also partners in personal crime and growth, competing fiercely but caring for each other unconditionally. Our differences are extreme; for instance, she loves biology while I am attracted to math and computer science; she likes going out to play badminton, on the other hand, I love staying at home doing video/photo editing as well as a little bit of creative writing. She has got a sense of high fashion whereas me, wear anything on sight. In my opinion though, clothes serve their purpose of covering your body and not shaping up your character.

She loves watching movies starring real-life characters while I prefer animation and reading manga. We have managed to understand each other better, through these variations or maybe because of them. I am referred to as the collector in my family which fits with the meaning of my name. Our mom always likes to tell us our childhood stories, one that I strongly remember is that there were times back then when I used to talk to her friends a lot, who would give me chocolates; however, I never ate them instantly. I stored them in the freezer only for them to disappear after a few days. So who stole them? My sister “4 minutes early”, the spendthrift who took them away from me without my consent. This act annoyed and amused me at the same time because she is still and I think will be a spendthrift. Her name means flute, a well-resounding musical instrument. Yet her voice was anything but melodious especially when she argues about random stuff that really doesn't matter for the topics we used to have conversations on.

We are like oil and water – we mix but don’t bond together at all times. Across the years, there has always been something between us; it’s like a line that we draw ourselves as barriers, even though all along it’s been with us. Two sides of one coin – such differences and still so alike.

Our mistakes accounted for all the scolding we got. We learned to trust one another, though, from those scoldings. When we said anything confidential between ourselves, it would never go outside the two of us. But sometimes when mad at each other, that would turn into a little tattle tailing on one another. However even then, we still knew our backs were covered by each other. They were challenges that we went through together such as what transpired at our friend’s birthday party. It further cemented our trust and support in one another.

4 minutes early has grown up with me as a sibling but not only that, she has become my partner in this confusing dance of competition and unconditional caring. This continues to make both of us better every day. Our relationship has helped us appreciate compromise, endurance and being cared unconditionally.

Ultimately, we are more than just blood relations. We are comrades, competitors, pals, and secret keepers, who are conjoined by an eternal bond of common memories, enjoyment and affections. The up’s and down’s, the stolen chocolates as well as the shared secrets have led us into a sibling relationship that is singularly different, difficult, and wonderful. So I feel like I am forever indebted to my mom for giving me such annoying twin sister.