Best Sister in the World

Sisters, Sisters by Paula Miller Whenever I see that old favorite, White Christmas, I wait for the song that has brought both tears and a smile to my face, "Sisters." Sparkling blue dresses and enormous feathered fans sweep the Haynes Sisters into an elegant dining room to sing. Having an identical twin sister seems quite intriguing to some. I've often been asked, "What's it like having a twin?" My response is, "What's it like not having a twin?" While most people wonder what it was like to share a room, friends, a car, and an apartment, I can never figure out how someone could have grown up without a best friend by their side at all times. Sometimes she knew me better than I knew myself. We shared everything. From our love of chocolate and sappy romantic movies to the little gray and red Horizon that found its way into the ditch on more than one occasion. And clothes. We shared a closet full of clothes through elementary school and right on up until we had to divvy them up when I got married. The funny part is now, ten years later, when we visit each other, we both come down to the breakfast table wearing the same shirt. We live such a distance apart that we don't get the chance to shop together, but our tastes are still the same. I still have to laugh over one holiday when we arrived at our parents' home wearing similar purple shirts. Even our "new" haircuts were the same. My husband approached my sister from behind and...well, suffice it to say, he thought it was me! I recall one instance when my mom made us sit in different rooms and write a list of ten reasons we should be allowed to go somewhere. She still laughs when she tells us how eight out of the ten answers, right on down the list, were exactly the same and in the same order. Now we live a good 100+ miles from each other, but it's rare indeed when the phone isn't ringing at one of our houses every morning of the week. More than likely we answer saying, "I was just about to call you." Not much has ever come between my sister and me. Oh, we had our share of arguments back in high school and college when we struggled between being twins and being our own person. But as anyone knows, fighting with a best friend never lasts long, and we usually hadn't quite finished our argument before one of us had already apologized. So here's to twins, sisters, best friends. God has given us a specialgift in each one.Howard Books Staff is the author of 'Best Sister in the World ', published 2007 under ISBN 9781416541738 and ISBN 141654173X.