Some random twin moments. . .


I reposted the "identical" picture because the only other one I could find was taken almost a year ago, plus, I like this one. ;)

I was discussing more random things with friends tonight and I realized Marian and I have several "twin" moments that are worth sharing. So, here ya go. . .

1. Once I was walking through a clothing store just after Kevin and I had moved here. A lady approached me like she knew me. I knew it was coming, but before I could explain, she questioned me, "Marian? Right?" Well, she was asking not because she knew Marian had a twin, but because she had only met Marian a couple of times and wasn't sure she had the name right. I responded, "Weelll, actually, I'm Hannah." I was going to go on but she interrupted, "No. Marian." She was sure now she had the name right. I then had to explain that I was Marian's twin sister, Hannah, and that we looked pretty identical. Then a look of clarity came over her face and she said "Oh, you really are identical."

2. I was sleeping away in the back of our Chevy Sprint on our way home (VA Beach at the time) from college (King, Bristol, TN), when Marian yelled, "Hannah, gimme your license." I sleepily handed it over and began to wake up when I realized she was handing my driver's license to the state trooper who had just pulled her over for speeding. She didn't have hers on her at that moment (suuurre she didn't!), so she gave him mine. As it turns out, it was the 3rd driving violation I had earned in a 6 month period of time, so I got to attend a special driving seminar designed for such offenders. While I was trying to complain to my mother about it, she slyly said, "Just think what it cost Jesus to pay for your sin?" I didn't whine to her about it ever again. Now, I'm whining to you. :)

3. The way people tell us apart. Marian has a mole on her chin--Marian Mole--M.M.
I have 2 moles side-by-side on my neck--Hannah Hickey--H.H. Thank you Mr. Miles (our elementary school gym teacher)!

4. The first time I met Council Mills is certainly worth mentioning. For those of you who don't know, Marian is married to Wade. Wade is the pastor of our church. Council is an elder (or is it a deacon?) in our church. Anyway, Wade and Marian had lived here for about 5 or 6 months when we visited for the first time. We walked into church Sunday morning--I walked in first with some of our kids and Kevin was a few paces behind with the other children--I was greeted by some very friendly faces (Council and Peggy). I stuck my hand out to say hello. Council said he was thinking, "Now something's different. What is it?" I said, "My name is Hannah. This. . .(I was looking around to see if he had made it in). . .is my husband, Kevin" who had now entered and had put his free hand out to shake Council's. Council said he thought, "Now that's different!"

5. This one's a little wordy, but hear me out. It has a good ending. For about a year and a half, I worked out regularly, at Gold's Gym, with a friend of mine, Katharine. She and I went during the wee hours of the morning, from 5:00 to 6:30 am. There aren't many people who get up that early to exercise, so after a while, Katharine and I knew the regulars. Now, when I say "knew", I mean we knew their faces. There was one man in particular who we sometimes talked and wondered about. We wondered if he was a professional runner, or maybe a triathlete. He was super-fit and lean and he would go from a spinning class straight to the treadmills. When our paths crossed, as they sometimes did, we would acknowledge one another with the respectful nod. Never before had I spoken to him, until one morning when Katharine left a little earlier than I did. As I was leaving, he stopped me and asked me where my friend was. I told him she had wimped out earlier on me ;) Then began our conversation. I asked him if he ran marathons or did triathlons. He said he did. We spoke for a little. I told him I had always wanted to run a marathon. He encouraged me and said I should stick with it and that I could do it. He told me his name. I told him mine. The conversation was less than 5 minutes. Remember now that I had seen him almost everyday for a year and never even given him more than a smile and the nod. On this day, I told Marian about my conversation with "triathlon dude" as Katharine and I had named him. I think I had been encouraged that he encouraged me and thought I could do this great thing. People who have known me well have laughed at me for mentioning this to them, so I thought it was cool that someone I didn't even know thought I could do it. Anyway, I described him to Marian just as she was heading out the door to take Christopher to soccer practice. Scene change--Marian at the soccer fields. A man approaches her and says, "Hey, I didn't know you lived around here." She had no idea who he was but was trying to place him. She responded with something like, "Yeah, we live over by the golf course." She said they talked for a bit and then he walked away and she said he kind of looked at her funny. As he was walking away, she noticed he was wearing a running T-shirt and then she quickly remembered her conversation with me. So then she went over to him and said, "I think you think I'm someone else." He said, "You're not Hannah." She said, "No, I'm Marian, Hannah's twin sister." He replied, "Wow! Wow!" As it turned out, his son was on Christopher's soccer team. We ended up meeting him and his whole family. And that's one of my favorite stories. When I told Rachel A., she said, "That's the kind of story that makes me wish I had a twin." Yep, I'm glad I have a twin. I love you Marian.