Tag Archives: twins

More than a Coincidence?

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curiousImagine this. Here it is in a nutshell:

Twins separated by birth, find each other at 39 years old only to discover they have lived mirrored lives.

Jim and Jim have a fascinating story to tell. Although separated at birth, each of their adoptive parents gave them the same first name – Jim. Each had two marriages with wives named Linda and then on the second go-round, Betty. Toy was the name of each of their dogs from childhood, and they each had one son James Allen and James Alan.

Their careers paralleled each other – deputy sheriffs, both! They drove the same cars, drank the same brand beer and are smokers of the same cigarettes. Even though, remember, they were  out of touch for 39 years.

Twin telepathy? It’s a curious thing. What else could it be for these two brothers? How can you call that many commonalities just a coincidence?

Interested to read more true stories about twins? Here is a link. http://bit.ly/1iiBcdU.

Stories like these make people want to read more about twin dynamics.

This blog brought to you by the author of “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” A story of multi-cultural love, faith, healing, life lessons and above all things – twins!

 

Histrionics of Twins

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Life is like a moustache. It can be wonderful or terrible. But it always tickles. ~ Nora Roberts, From the Heart

Pet white mice!  “They’re so cute,” we’d say to our parents. “We want one to play with.” My sister and I nagged at our parents to let us have a domesticated mouse until finally they gave in. Did anyone else have one or more of those creatures as a kid?

Ohhh- now, that pet brings back memories to yours truly and her sister. We kept our mouse in a glass aquarium with a screen over it for a cover so it wouldn’t escape. However intruders were more the problem. More than once we were awoken in the middle of the night by loud squealing. A wild mouse that came from somewhere within our house had found it’s way into the cage. When we turned on the bedroom light to investigate all the noise, we caught the mice in action mating. You’ve never seen two little, screaming naive twins scamper into their parents’ bedroom in the middle of the night so quickly! We jumped on mom and dad’s bed with wide-eyes to apprise our parents of the situation!

Three weeks later, an unexpected development! We learned more about the facts of life, when we awoke to little, translucent pink  bodies squirming in the clear glass cage.

photo of white mouse withbackpackWho knows where the newborn babies went when they disappeared the next day. As a young child, I figured the cat clock hanging on the wall in our bedroom, that I mentioned in yesterday’s blog,  had come alive and eaten them up. After this happened twice, my parents sent the pet white mouse packing!

Would your parents have let you have a white mouse for a pet? I grew up in a bit of a crazy house. Domesticated white mice were only the start of the many animals that could be found inside and out on our family’s property – more about our zoo in my memoir.  Add a wonderful character named Fanny into the mix of the menagerie, and life was lived differently than many of our neighbors.

Oh….I can only image the stories my parents could tell about the histrionics of life with two twins.

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, the author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

 

Sharing Sisters

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There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”  ~ Maya Angelou

“Set still, chile,” said the stellar character that you will learn a lot about in my upcoming book as she fed our little brother his lunch. Our mother had run to the store to get a gallon of milk and the woman, the star of my story, had been given the task of watching over us kids as we ate our lunch.

“What did yo’ sisters give ya?” she asked my brother, “a bunch of dem squiggly wigglies in your pants? Dem girlies is always carryin’ around dem squiggly wigglies deh dig up out da Earf. Must be God give us dem creatures for a reason, but I ain’t knowd what it is. My preacher man ain’t read me dat part yet from da Greatest Story Ever Tole.”

What a character! She was talking about the worms my sister and I always dug up out of the garden and shared with each other.

When my twin sister and I were little we always thought everything should come in pairs like we did and like the animals in the story of Noah in the Bible. When we only had one of something, my sister and I always shared it. We’d pull a worm apart until we had two equal pieces. Yes, I know – how cruel! But give me a break – we were only two little children. All we could think was that it wasn’t fair if one of us had something and not the other.

My twin and I shared everything and had utmost trust in each other until we became teenagers and when it came to clothes. We never trusted that we’d get things back from each other in the same condition as when they were lent out. But, have there ever been teenage sisters who have been good at sharing clothes?

Trust, attachment and caring are all inside the pages of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. But, the real treasure in the story will come from the enlightenment you will find through the unique perspectives and colorful dialogue of the stellar character.

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Don’t miss out on the MP-3 audio book version of “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” when it comes out! This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Oh, To Have Faith

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I have to laugh at my sister. I think she is more excited than I am about my book. Just revealing the front and back cover last week has given the entire family a thrill because I have been very secretive about what’s between the covers.

The other day my twin sent me a link to an article saying “You’ll appreciate this story.  In addition to having common roots in Baltimore along with this featured author, you two share the experience of having been  factory workers. (The link to the story Factory Worker turns Poet wins $100,000 is below.) Yes, it’s true I am now  a published author and I was a factory worker but my prize money has yet to come through!

One summer, when my sister and I were in high school in the late 1960’s we worked in a factory in the middle of BaltimoreCity. The facility handled medical records via micro-film (micro-fiche). My job was to cut and splice the film and stuff the film into plastic sleeves for historical recordkeeping. I worked all alone in a dark room, so that I could see what I was doing.

I was so envious of my sister! She worked in a big bright room next door with six or eight other women. They jived all day long to the sounds of Motown as they labored. So many times I was tempted to ask the boss if I could trade places and jobs with my sister. At the end of the day, my sister kept recounting how the women she worked with got up and danced around the room when a song from the Temptations or Supremes or Four Tops hit their fancy. The women really had heart and soul, evidently.

decision to tryI share this article about the factory worker turned poet who wins $100,000 with anyone out there who has dreams of becoming published:

http://on-msn.com/1cUH8MB.

No matter what you are doing now, it’s possible to add “writer” to your resume. Only you can make it happen! For me, it all started with writing a blog. In today’s world of independent publishing, there is nothing in this world that should stop you.  Dream, take action and find your own personal fulfillment in writing!

Oh, my sister has so much faith in my writing. She says she knows she will love my upcoming publication “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. ” Let me tell you a secret. She will! There are parts of the tale that are uniquely mine but part of the story is hers also!

Look forward to your return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow. This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

The Lady in the Choir

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laughing sistersWhy is it that when you have a twin sister, everything is doubly  funny? I swear my sister and I can have more fun laughing at something that might not strike anyone else as being one bit funny.

A good hearty belly laugh is only annoying if it happens in inappropriate places. When we were kids, it always happened in church. My sister and I didn’t dare even glance at each other when the mezzo-soprano in the choir started singing. There was something about her voice that made us listen but we found her inflection hysterical. If we even saw one anothers faces in our peripheral vision, it was all over – we’d lose control and laugh so hard we’d have tears running down our cheeks. Then our little brothers got in on the action.

Somehow our parents always knew exactly what started it and struggled to keep their own joy of hearing us twins laughing together in check and in cheek. Someone had to be the adults and keep order in the family. Week after week we vowed to our parents that it would never happen again, but oh, how we were telling a story.

Since I have been taught that God is love, I knew I’d be forgiven and not be struck down by the devil. Our scolding often came from someone else who you’ll learn more about in my memoir. Whenever she got word of our childish antics, her words had a more powerful effect than anything our parents could have ever uttered.

“Lord a Mercy,” she’d say “What is you? A bunch a heathens, laughin’ in da Lord’s house?” Have you ever noticed how carefully one listens to someone who is speaking a different dialect?

“It was the funny lady in the choir’s fault,” my sister and I’d say, taking no responsibility for our inability to control ourselves. After all, we were just children.

That’s another family story that wasn’t included in my memoir from All Things Fulfilling. This blog is brought to you by www.CornestoneFulfillmentService.com.

Believe it or Not

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 Y'all ain't gonna believe this.Being a twin, my sister and I were partners in crime. Only our silly, foolish double-trouble was more of the innocent kind.

For a child, there is nothing more fulfilling than having someone to pair up with who is also “game” for participating in childhood foolishness – I had that partner in my sister. For instance, once when we had tired of playing with our baby dolls we took up the challenge of trying to diaper two big toads that were leaping about our yard. “Kleenex and mini-sized safety pins, will work perfectly,” we thought. Yeah, I know, “Oh how silly.” An impossible task to achieve, when the toads were intent on hopping around. It kept us busy for a whole afternoon.

The stellar character my upcoming memoir “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” caught us in action. “Lord a Mercy,” she said, “what is ya’ll doin’? Y’all leave dem leapin’ lizards ‘lone. You’ll be growing in all da wrong places if ya keeps on touchin’ dem warts on dem frowgs!” 

Ahhh…that’s only one story that was left out of my memoir. Believe it or not, I’ve got plenty more to tell.  Other tales are  coming on Mother’s Day, when “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” is released.

If you haven’t done so already, go to our new About the Book page on All Things Fulfilling,  you can see the book cover image and read some reviews from pre-publication readers, too.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you tomorrow!

Swinging Life Apart

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“One must learn to love oneself with a wholesome and healthy love so that one can bear to be with oneself ...” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

girls standing up on swing set

Last night I had a wonderful dream that I was back on the elementary school playground with my twin sister. So today in my blogging we are going to travel down nostalgia lane.

Remember those days? Pumping on the swing trying to reach the clouds high in the sky? My sister and I often competed with one another to see who could push the limits. She usually won the race because her stamina was much greater than mine.

We were both pretty fearless when it came to heights, but I may have been the greater daredevil. As soon as we crested the top, we’d let go, become air bound and jump to the ground, nearly giving my mother a double heart attack.

An advantage of being a twin is that you have a “built-in” playmate.The challenge of being a twin is that people often treat twins as if they are one unit rather than two autonomous people with individual strengths, likes and needs.

Years ago, child psychologists theorized it was best to keep twins together in the same classroom, but they have since learned not so! http://bit.ly/1lWgEdY. When seventh grade rolled around my twin and I began to learn what life was like with separate groups of friends. We were put into different classes and weaned away from one another, having to adjust to not being together constantly.

Even to this day, we have lots of mutual friends. It wasn’t until I married that we really were completely separated and life has never been the same for us since. In fact for four decades we have lived in different cultural and geographical climates.  One lives in the heat and humidity surrounded by a huge population of people, the other in artic temperatures in remote and intimate surroundings.

What we share are similar values that were instilled in both of us when we were little. You’ll learn more about my twin double troubles in my memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. Click for info & ordering

Do come back tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling. This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Wandering Walters Art Museum

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The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. ~Aristotle

As a teen, the WaltersArtGallery (now known as the WaltersArt Museum) in BaltimoreCity was one of my favorite spots to visit on rainy afternoons. It was interesting to return, decades later, to the museum as an adult. As a young person, I was not fully aware of the breadth and depth of the collections, ranging from pre-dynastic Egyptian to medieval to baroque and Italian. Flemish and Dutch, and art from far Eastern parts of the world (Asian art) is also among the more than 35,000 artifacts, paintings, ceramics, sculpture on display at “the Walters.”

Many of the naturally illuminated galleries, exquisitely showcase the artwork from around the world in the best light. The architecture is as interesting, and inspiring as the art itself. To read more about the treasures within the WaltersArt Museum, please visit this link. http://thewalters.org/about/history/. Follow me as I explore the interior spaces through this photographic tour. I did seek permission before taking these photos inside the museum.

It was a memorable Memorial Day weekend, spent in Baltimore. Time spent with my twin sister is always fulfilling!

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The exterior of the building is far different than the interior. Don’t let it fool you!

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Dramatic and exquisite entry into the “Walters”

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Above & Below: Baroque & Flemish paintings inside this gallery space

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Above & Below Images: Architectural Embellishments

The Leo in me couldn’t resist the Lion on the doors to one of the galleries

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Images Above & Below: Italian Art

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Above Image: Exhibit about book binding

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This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you tomorrow on http://www.AllThingsFulfilling.com , where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business.

When Art Strikes

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“All emotions are pure which gather you and lift you up.” ~ Ranier Maria Rilke 

Three years ago, at Arts in the Park  in Steamboat Springs, Colorado I came across an artist whose photography really struck me. Ever since I laid eyes on his work, it has been on my mind. The visceral response that I have to his images is very intense. Finally, after visiting his exhibit booth for three summers in a row, I decided I could not be without an image from this artist. 

What in this image has such an impact on me? 

  • Reflective qualities of the water
  • Illumination of the face
  • Dramatic peaks in background
  • “Twin” cormorants communicating their special language to each other
  • The disparity between darkness and light 

I’d be interested in knowing what title the artist would attach to his image. Most painters give their paintings a name. It seems that photographers ought to do the same. The title of the work often gives the viewer reason for further contemplation and insight into the emotions of the creator. Sometimes the title of a piece of artwork becomes synonymous with an artist’s name. 

Perhaps I’ll contact the photographer to inquire if he were to name this image, what title would he give it?  But, in the meantime, I am going to name the image myself.

  “Twin  Avians Basking in All Things Fulfilling” 

Kenny Tong, www.KennyTong.com  I will enjoy your photography for many years to come. I know you can think of a better title for your stunning photographic image. Let me know if you name it, so I can write it down and substitute it for the one I’ve got.  And do return again toSteamboat Springs,Colorado!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Steeped in Easter Tradition

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“Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals.” ~ Charles M. Crowe

It is only two weeks away from Easter. The other day I walked into the drugstore, and just seeing Easter candy lined up on shelves, set off a fulfilling range of nostalgic Easter memories harkening back to my childhood days of growing up in the mid-Atlantic part of the United States. 

Before Easter, on Palm Sunday weekend, my grandmother would take my two brothers, my twin sister and me shopping for new Easter outfits to wear to church. She would deck us out from head to toe with new spring dress-up clothes for Easter morn – including Easter bonnet, of course. Back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, people really “dressed” when they went to church! Easter was the one Sunday of the year that my grandparents would come to our church, the church my Dad built, and not their own. http://www.mpchurch.org/. They wanted to see their four grandkids all decked out in our new Easter finest. After church, we all went back to our house for a big Easter mid-day dinner (in the dining room- of course.) The icing of the day was the Easter bunny cake that my Mom made for us, each year, covered with fresh grated coconut for it’s fur. We always looked forward to a repeat the next Easter. Traditions reigned in our house! 

There is one more fulfilling memory that is ever so clear in my mind of my childhood days of going to church and Sunday School. Having grown up in Maryland, where dogwood trees were plentiful, we learned about the symbolism of the dogwood tree, and it’s blossoms likeness to Jesus dying on the cross. The four petals of the flower form and represent the cross, the brown stains at the tips represent the blood of Jesus and at the center of the blossom, there is a likeness of the thorny crown. I wonder if this story of Easter is still taught to children in Sunday Schools in this day? 

These memories evoke some of the most beautiful times in my childhood. If there was one wish that I could make for our world today, it would be a return to the wholesome basics of life –strong families, deep faith, truly meaningful friendships and businesses built by families together,  lasting generations deep. 

There is a store, steeped in family tradition, where all kinds of things golden and olden can be re-discovered. Track down nostalgic merchandise from your treasure trove of beautiful memories from your childhood, by visiting www.vermontcountrystore.com.