Twins

I don't know how suprised Uncle John Vint, Freddy or Jerry were to find out that they had had another sister in their family with May Bentley.  I wouldn't be surpised to find that Uncle Joe had known.  He ususally knows everything.  He will confirm or deny if you ask him straight on, but he doesn't necessarily volunteer the information.

I was suprised to find out that my mother had lost a set of twins.  Aunt Sue -- Anna Sue -- had told me that when I visited her in the nursing home last November.  Maraget had always said that she was a twin and one had died at their birth.  I didn't believe that, because I thought Mom would certainly have said something if that were true.  So I asked Aunt Sue, are you talking about Margaret?  Was she really a twin?  No, she answered.  Your mother had a set of twins and lost them. 

I came home and asked dad. I thought he would say she must have been mixed up.  He said it was true.  When I asked where in the line they would have fallen he said it was between me and Jim.  There are only two years difference between us.

Donna was born on October 17, 1955.  David was born on October 19, 1954.  When Donna has her birthday for two days they are the same age.  We always kidded and said they were twins for two days. 

When I was pregnant with Jason Mom said she wished I was having twins -- a boy and a girl -- so I could do it all at once and be done with it.  I assummed she thought that if I had one girl and one boy I would never feel the need to have another child.  At one point I tried to adopt a set of twin girls.  It didn't work out -- the mother decided she wanted the welfare money for them.  We had a lot of opportunity to talk twins.  My mother never said a word to me about having a set of her own and losing them.  She never told any of us kids that I know of. 

I would never have known if I had not talked to Aunt Sue.

I was sad not to have known about them.  I did do some checking in the family I have documented so far.  There are about 45 sets of twins in the family.  They were about equally divided between the Mullins and the Bentleys.  The most were through Granny's family.

My brother's daughter, Angie, had twins, Kelsey and Kortney.  I thought it was back a few generations that there were twins.  I had no idea then how close they had been in our line.

It makes me wonder what else Mom kept to herself.