Life On A Cactus: It's a twin thing...

I have mentioned before that I have a twin sister - Tina. Twins run in my family and I am amazed that I, nor my twin has had a set of our own. Here's the breakdown:

My mother is a Twin - to a sister
My father is a Twin - to a sister
Mom and Dad got married - Had Tina and I
Dad got remarried - Had another set of twins - Brother and Sister who are 8 years younger then us.

So, if you didn't catch that...My mom, dad, myself and my little brother and sister are all twins...I know crazy right??

Tina and I have not always gotten along. When we were young we fought like cats and dogs and sometimes we were plain mean. Though through everything we were still as close as two people could be. Thinking back, I can't believe the ways that I treated her and she still loved me...maybe it is true we hurt the ones we love the most.

Through out all of these crazy fights and awful words that we spoke to one another, we were probably taking other issues that were causing us pain in our lives, out on each other, I always knew that she was a beautiful person who would do anything for me, stick up for me and have my back no matter what. We were never separated by these fights/issues - almost brought closer together. Hindsight is 20/20.

We have been together since the moment we were.....ah hem....conceived. To try and explain to someone what is like to be a twin, or the bond between twins is impossible - there simply isn't anything like it.

Through out all out the years of fighting and not getting along many people would tell us - "when you get older she will be your best friend...." I never thought we would be as close as we are today. She is my best friend....they were right.

Once we grew up and realised we were hurting each other by our verbal abuse...and I'm not going to lie sometimes we got physical too...we came to a mutual understanding that we love each other obviously, but we kinda liked each other too. Twin Power - Activate! (sorry cheesy inside twin joke....)

I got married in 2002 and Tina got married in 2007. Through planning our weddings and being each other's MOH's at each other's weddings, to raising our families together has been so priceless and I am so grateful to be able to witness my sisters life in an up close and and personal way. Maybe sometimes too up close...whatever she'll have to deal.

My twin is the best mother to Loghan (3), Mara (16 months) and Jackson (debuting on February 21st via c-section). Her husband Johnny is an absolute catch...he is a great man through and through...he's one of the good ones. Their family is the closest thing to me besides mine of course ( and my mom)...I am so happy that I have Tina to battle these parenting days when I feel like I'm the only one with a child whose head spins all the way around....when I said before that my friends had seen my crazy, that is an understatement of what Tina has witnessed....she always know what to say. She's my soft spot when it feels like the world is ganging up against me. I love you Twin B.

When people say that their significant other is their other half, I agree Craig is my other half. It's just that Tina was my other half first....a 2 person wolf pack....."we are the two best friends that anyone could have" My family and her family have created this weird little wolf pack of love and a bunch of crazy cousins who get to be surrounded by the Ible-Wray craziness of life. Perfection!

Oh and she's a ginger too.

Twin A's Wedding - 2002