"I'm Clare, and I'm a triplet." After introducing myself at freshman orientation, I brace myself for the usual reactions of my peers. Suddenly, the questions come all at once. "Do you all look alike?" "Is it fun?" "Who's the oldest?" "Do you have the same friends?" I look around and answer as many questions as I can, a strategy that I've become well accustomed to since I always seem to be asked the same things. I tell the group that I love being a triplet, and I explain, to their surprise, that my two sisters and I do not look alike and we do not do everything together. "Being a triplet is awesome," I say. "It's the best feeling to know that you always have two people to count on no matter what." What I tell them could not be closer to the truth.
As you can imagine, my sisters and I were a huge surprise to my parents. My mother never expected that she would have three children at one time, let alone three girls. The three of us were born two months premature, and we each weighed under four pounds. We were born into a loving family that cared for us and helped us to grow into healthy children. My sisters and I have always been extremely close; throughout our childhood there was not a moment when one of us played alone. I've always had a playmate, someone to rely on, and someone to talk to.
Although my sisters and I didn't always get along, we knew that we had each other's backs. We were always there for one another, even when we weren't together. My mother raised us to be individuals-- even though the three of us shared some similar traits, my mother made sure we each had our differences. We were never dressed the same, we had our own activities, and we each had our own talents. But those differences did not take away from the fact that we saw each other everyday at school and simultaneously went through the same experiences.
Now, my sisters and I are at different colleges, all spread out throughout the East Coast. A lot of people ask what it's like-- if I miss them, if it's hard to make friends without them, and whether or not I like being on my own. Of course I miss my sisters more than anything, but what I've come to learn is that in any true relationship, distance does not change things. If anything, distance helps relationships to grow stronger. We always have something to talk about, because we each have our own experiences to compare and explore. We no longer go through our daily lives together, and we each have new stories to tell. Yes, I think it's difficult being separated from them, but it's also a new and exciting time to spread my wings and to find who I am as a separate person. I do miss my sisters, but college is showing me that through our separation, we are actally growing closer. Even though I have have only been away at college for a few weeks, I've been able to learn so much about myself and I have also learned more about my sisters. I often find myself imitating the habits of my sisters, such as stopping to enjoy the sunset like my sister Maura does, or, like Deirdre showed me, pushing myself to do things that I never thought I could do. College has been a time for me to explore my own personality, but perhaps more importantly, it has allowed me to appreciate my sisters more fully and to see the world through their eyes.
