Now here I am, at age 22 with twin 13-year-old brothers. It is the three of us (besides my parents of course). Growing up, I was an only child for nine whole years. For nine years I dreamed of the day I would have siblings. I envied my cousins who had sisters and my friends who had multiple siblings. I begged my parents to pop out a sibling so I would have a best friend to do life together. I prayed and begged and begged and prayed to not be an only child. And then one day, I found out my mom was pregnant when I was 8 years old and I was suddenly the happiest little girl ever. And then a couple of weeks later I was riding my bike in front of my house and my mom screams out at me, “I’m having twins”. And all of a sudden I collide my bike with another kid on the sidewalk and fell over. I felt overwhelmed with the fact I would have not just one sibling but two... and at the same exact time. I had to adjust from being an only child, to being the oldest of three. Since the day my brothers have been born, my life has changed, mostly for the better.

My brothers had my heart since day one. Even though the age gap, I loved to be around them every day, and still do. When they were little, I acted like a little mother hen. I helped my mom with them, babysat, protected them and watched them grow up. I saw them go through their terrible twos, their first day of kindergarten, their first baseball game, their first missing tooth, their first holidays’, and all of their “firsts” to come. I loved being able to be a little mother hen for them because it kicked started my love for babies and children. That is the biggest positive of all I believe. They showed me how much you can love someone. But with the ups came the downs.

It always came down to the biggest down of all, and still does. They always have each other. After all, they have a built in best friend and partner in crime. They have the playmate that never goes home. And more as they got older, all I wanted to do was to be with them. I wanted to be the cool big sister and try to spend as much time as I could with them. But it became hard when all they wanted to do was to stay home and hang out with each other. They want to play games with their twin. They want to watch tv with their twin. After all, they, for the most part, have the same likes. They know how each other works, what each other feels.

But then you have me, that tried to fit in with the twins; and you simply just can’t. They know each other more than they know themselves and that’s a connection that just can’t be handed over to someone else. You have to experience that daily. But when you aren’t apart of that, like I wasn’t, it gets hard. You’re kind of the outside kid that just wants to be with the in crowd, even in your own home. At times I would get really upset when they wouldn’t want to hang out with me. And it sounds absolutely ridiculous because we are 9 years apart, so why would I want to hang out with my little brothers. It just comes to that they are my brothers. They are my blood and my family and why wouldn’t I want to hang out with them and be apart of that.

At the times when I feel alone with my brothers, I remember that they still love me. I remember that they ask to hang out with me and take them place. I cherish the days they include me and want to go see the newest movie in the theaters. I remind myself that they don’t know any different than what they grew up to know, their twin. It is not their fault they make me feel alone at times because they are still growing at the age of 13. I am 9 years older... and wiser, may I add... and I have lived more and experienced more to understand that you don’t always get your way. They may gain up on me sometimes, look like the same person, and get to have a built in best friend 24/7, but I still have the coolest brothers ever. I still get to be their biggest supporters while they play baseball. I still get to watch all the milestones they hit. We still hang out and play basketball or watch movies together. I get double the support, double the love from little brothers, and double the heart. I just get extra and all at the same time. Being the older sibling of twins only makes you loved more and more patient with what life throws your way. Life is different in a family with twins, but only for the better.