My twin often complains that I never tell anyone that I have an identical twin sister. I don't do it intentionally, but I'm used to everyone knowing that I have a twin. We went to the same schools until college, and everyone knew who we were. I was used to complete strangers coming up to us at school and saying, "Hi, Begle." To me, being a twin isn't that unusual. It's just the way it's always been. Our older half brother, Bob, lived with his mom so we don't have any experience with other siblings. We did see our cousins Joanne and Erin a lot, who are very close in age to us, but at the end of the day they went home and that's always a big difference. I'm going to be talking about various things that Chrissy and I have been asked about over the years.

When we were little, people used to stop to talk with my mom all the time. We were cute enough on our own, but together moreso. I do the same thing now that I'm older, and not just because other twins are interesting to me. I haven't been able to figure out what makes twins so much more remarkable than non-twin cute little kids. They just are. It could be because there's two of them, or because they're more rare than non-multiples.

Our mom used to dress us alike, although we often had the same outfit in different colors. I was always the pink twin, and since I wouldn't leave barettes or anything like that in my hair, my mom used to cut it short. (My niece, who is not a twin, has the same trait, but so far my sister-in-law leaves her hair longer than mine was at that age.) Now that I'm older and I've been growing my hair out and wearing non-pink clothes, it still takes my relatives a few moments to figure out which one of us is which. It helps that I've dyed my hair red and I wear contacts instead of glasses like my sister. We never minded dressing alike when we were little, and we picked our own clothes when we got older.

One question I inevitably get asked is, "If your sister gets hurt, do you feel it two?" No, we don't have twin ESP, although I believe that it does exist.

Another one is, "Do you have your own language?" No, we don't. We had something that we called each other, but as it was pronounced without ever opening one's mouth, I'm at a loss to transcribe it here. We did, and still do, finish each other's sentences or answer in stereo.

Since Chrissy and I almost always had the same stuff growing up, and got to do things at the same time, we didn't have a lot of the sibling rivalry that most kids have. We were happy getting the same stuff for Christmas and our birthday, but I've heard other twins say that they liked getting different things because that way they had twice as many toys.

My sister and I never had classes together in grade school. This used to be the default policy, but it's generally accepted that this is not always best for the twins. The thought behind separating twins at school was that the twins wouldn't make other friends because they'd always have their twin there. Chrissy and I were in Kidnergarten together, and we had no problem making friends. We were separated in grade school, but we actually had less friends. It probably wasn't the only factor, but we were less confident when we were apart.

One thing that we usually fought about was what we were going to have for our birthday. One year my mom had to make two different meals for us because we couldn't decide on one. But we always liked the same cake, an ice cream cake that my mom always made.

My sister and I chose widely different careers. She has an education degree specializing in K-2nd grades and I'm a computer programmer. While I love kids, I could never deal with the parents. Chrissy isn't computer illiterate but she still smiles and nods when I talk about my work.

I never liked switching places when we were younger and looked exactly alike. I hated it when anyone treated me as if I were exactly the same person as my sister. That's one mistake you never want to make with twins. Although they will often have many similarities in their personalities as well as in their appearances, twins are different people.

We've also never fought over guys. We have different tastes in men, so it's never been an issue.

My twin and I babysit for a pair of three year old twins and their older brother, and it's lots of fun for us as well as for them. We get an idea of what our parents went through, and they get more attention than they would with one babysitter.

My sister and I have always been best friends, and always will be.