I have often been asked how it was growing up with an identical twin brother. Well, we had a lot of fun, I usually tell people, but that’s not good enough. They demand to get some examples. I’m taxing my memory in an effort to come up with some. Let’s start with the pre-teen years.
Our mother delighted in dressing us alike, probably because she found it amusing when others couldn’t tell us apart. When we started grade school, the teachers and the other students were at a loss as to who they were talking to or playing with, so henceforth we were addressed as “hey you twin!” My brother and I played this up by trading places in the classroom, standing up to deliver a lesson when the other one hadn’t done the homework. In fact we split the homework in two, and each did one half.
As we grew older, girls became important specimens to be tested to see if they could tell us apart. Most could not, which prompted my brother and I to keep switching dates. When we switched we shared all the knowledge obtained from the girls in question, and usually nobody was the wiser.
There was a community hall a couple of blocks away from our house, and occasionally a neighbourhood dance would be arranged with a live band. I recall one time when my brother Kjell had a date for the dance. He did not tell her that he had an identical twin brother. I did not have a date, and went by myself hoping to connect with a girl there.
As usual we had dressed alike, making it hard to tell us apart. Kjell was behaving very intimately towards his date, looking deep into her eyes while dancing. When they sat down at their table she asked Kjell for a soft drink. I was sitting in the back of the hall, out of Kjell’s sight, and that of his date. Kjell got up to go to the soft drink bar in the next room for her drink, and at the same time taking the opportunity to visit the men’s room.
As Kjell got up I was able to persuade a cute girl to accompany me on to the dance floor. It was a slow romantic tune being played, so we danced cheek to cheek. The dance was finished before Kjell got back to his date. As soon as he sat down he was accosted by his date as to how he dared dance intimately with another girl!
Kjell tried to explain that he had an identical twin brother, and looked around the hall to find me. When I saw how Kjell got into trouble with his date, however, I snuck out of the hall before he or his date could see me. Kjell’s date didn’t believe his story about an identical twin. She was mortally offended, stood up and marched out of the hall! Kjell was determined to get even, and one day he almost succeeded.
Kjell had returned home after a tour on the old three-mast schooner “Sørlandet,” where besides regular schooling he also learned basic navigation, sailing, taking advantage of the wind, tying sailor’s knots, etc. I was still in high school, and I had been able to secure a date for the coming Saturday with a cute female classmate. Of course I had to brag about this to my brother, who through cunning and masterful interrogation (he later became a police detective) made me impart her phone number and where she lived. You should also know that our voices were identical as well. Kjell phoned the girl and told her he would pick her up a bit earlier than agreed, as he would be taking her to a special movie.
When I arrived a little later and rang the doorbell, her mother came to the door. Her hand flew to her mouth when she saw me, thinking that something bad had happened to her daughter.
I was able to convince her that my identical twin brother had tricked us all. She told me the name of the movie they were going to, and I quickly headed to the movie theatre. I saw my brother and the girl in the lineup for the ticket wicket; I snuck up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and let out a gasp, then turned the other way and looked at my brother who was grinning from ear to ear. The three of us enjoyed the movie.
Kjell became a police officer and I moved to Canada. About 40 years later Edmonton was hosting the international police games, and I went to attend the opening ceremonies in the Colosseum. I ended up in the stands right across from the Norwegian troop. The flag bearer almost dropped the flag when he saw me. Everybody in the troop knew Kjell, but they didn’t know or had forgotten that he had a twin brother living in Canada! Even being half a continent and an ocean apart, our facial features had remained identical including our mustaches.
Kjell and I were womb mates. But after nine months he kicked me once and said, “There’s not enough womb in here for the two of us!” Then he left. I kept looking for him, but couldn’t find him, and when I also departed the womb we became bosom buddies.
Victor Borge once said about identical twins, “It is hard to tell who’s the identical one, because they look so much alike!”
