Having a twin brother has truly been a whirlwind of a life, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Yes, we've had fights. We've had our ups and downs, but with time and some maturity, I think we are closer now than we have ever been, and we live on opposite sides of the United States.

To answer some stereotypical questions about twins: we were not inseparable, we can't read each other's minds, and we are not the opposite gender version of each other. My brother and I could not be more different, in all the best ways of course. We are two separate beings who happened to share a womb and a birthday. However, for the past five years, my brother and I have not celebrated our birthday together. We have lived in separate houses and separate states since before we finished high school and now we are both in our final year of college.

He has always come back to Arizona for winter break, but each time he is always a few days past our birth date. Thank you finals week for keeping me from seeing my brother on our birthday for the past five years. The full honest reason that I have not been with my brother on our birthday is that we both have finals on our birthday week and he has to fly out after he's done. We always make it a point to text each other when it is our birthday. I normally text him first because he has normally been two hours ahead of me. Then he texts me two hours later saying happy birthday in return.

Texting or calling on our birthday just isn't the same as being in the same place at the same time and wishing each other happy birthday in person. Being apart for two of our milestone birthdays sucked. Celebrating our 18th and 21st birthday apart was hard. 18 was our first birthday apart. It was strange being the only twin here and getting all the attention rather than it being split between the two of us. I never was the "popular" one of the two of us, but that somewhat shifted that year on our birthday. All of his friends made sure to say happy birthday to me I guess because they couldn't directly tell my brother.

Anywho, the first two years it was strange really being apart. We went to different schools. We lived in different states. We had separate lives for the first time, and it took some time getting used to it. We both knew growing up that we would both never be by each others side throughout life. We would always be a phone call away from each other, but we have different life paths that took us in completely different directions.

I will say though that one thing that I love about not sharing our birthday in the same place has not had to buy each other birthday gift. We haven't bought each other gifts for a few years. We decided a couple of years ago that we should just add another Christmas present to the mix rather than buying separate birthday gifts. Saves money and hassle trying to figure out too many gifts.

Another thing I love about not sharing our birthday in the same place is that when we are both back in the same place, we go hard celebrating our birthday. We had an interesting 21st birthday party, to say the least. This year I think it will be much more time in nature if there even is a party.

It might suck being apart, but it has become our norm. We make do with what we have and make the most of each new year. Hopefully, this year brings new beginnings and blessings to both of us. Fingers crossed!