Blogger: Rachel Kent
Location: Home in Santa Rosa
A couple of months ago my Great Aunt Irene passed away. She was a twin and her twin sister, Eileen, passed away almost ten years ago. I remember seeing them every year at Christmas. They would come to our huge family gathering and sit next to each other on a couch and talk to whomever happened by. They were very caring and sweet, but were quiet and would hardly ever initiate conversation–at least not with us kids. I never could tell them apart because they were always together!
Neither of them married, and they always lived together. They took care of my great-grandmother until she passed away and of their eldest sister, Callista, until she passed away. They were also sisters of my Great Aunt Kathy, who was the nun I mentioned in my blog post a couple of weeks ago.
I learned a few years back, through looking at an old family album, that my great-grandfather had two brothers, and all three brothers had twin girls the same year. Can you believe it?! That must be rare. So Irene and Eileen had two sets of twin cousins who were the all the same age. That must have been so fun!
Irene and Eileen lived in an apartment in Palo Alto, Calif., until they moved to Los Banos, Calif., in their later years to live in a retirement community close to my grandpa and grandma. They moved to Los Banos about three years before I met Andrew, my husband.
Shortly after I started dating Andrew, I had dinner over at his aunt and uncle’s house. We were talking about my family, and I mentioned that my grandparents live in Los Banos. They looked at each other, and then Andrew’s uncle said, “Isn’t that where the twins moved?”
I immediately asked, “The twins? Do you happen to mean Irene and Eileen?”
They looked shocked and confirmed that we were talking about the same people. I explained my connection, and then Andrew’s uncle told me about how he lived for many years in the apartment above theirs in Palo Alto. He used to help them out from time to time. So my family was connected to Andrew’s since before we were born through my great aunts!
Here’s a picture of Irene and Eileen with Andrew’s uncle at his wedding.
Wow! Such a neat story.
I love reading about serendipitous encounters. Our immense world is truly threaded together with meaningful connections. Thank you for sharing such an uplifting story.
What a small world, and what fun it must have been to make that connection! I have fond recollections of family trips to visit my own Great Aunt Irene in San Leandro, CA when I was young.
Hope you have a delightful New Year, Rachel!
That’s so cool! What a God-thing to have that coincidence! And 3 sets of twins all born around the same time in one family? I’d love to know the statistics on how often that occurs…
Great story! An eighth-grade teacher who submitted my first poetry for publication was an identical twin. Betsy (my teacher) and her twin, Patsy, lived together until Patsy (also a teacher) died about ten years ago. When I knew them, they drove the same kind of car but in different colors (yellow and orange Karmann Ghias) and loved to correct each other about almost anything.
By the way, do you have names picked out for your future twins yet, Rachel?
What a great story!
Marti, I would love to have twins someday! 🙂 We’ll see…
What a fun story. Love it! Thanks for sharing, Rachel.