Bree and Beth's relationship was fraught with tension. Do you think that as twins they had a better understanding of each other than most sisters would have? Do you have a sibling, and if so, what's your relationship? Has it changed over the years?
Created: 12/24/18
Replies: 11
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
Bree and Beth's relationship was fraught with tension. Do you think that as twins they had a better understanding of each other than most sisters would have? Do you have a sibling, and if so, what's your relationship? Has it changed over the years?
Join Date: 04/21/14
Posts: 39
Join Date: 01/01/16
Posts: 476
I have always heard that twins have a special relationship and just know and understand each other better then other siblings. I am the youngest of three girls. My sisters are 10 years older and 4 years older. As we became adults and mothers I was closer to my oldest sister. The middle sister seemed to have many of the problems that the middle child often does. She lived in a different state and was jealous of the close relationship my two boys had with our parents. Now that we are older and our kids are grown we are closer. However I do not have the close loving relationship with either of my sisters that I know many sisters have. This does sadden me.
Join Date: 06/23/13
Posts: 142
I have a sister that is an addict and I can totally relate to Bree’s feelings about Beth. My sister and I are not twins. We are estranged after many years of heart breaking experiences. Sometimes you have to walk away to protect yourself.
Join Date: 04/07/12
Posts: 265
I do think that twins are especially connected in ways that regular siblings are not. Sometimes birth order plays a part with regular siblings; sometimes not. I am close with my sister, but became more so after we were adults. We still have differences, but our shared upbringing makes us connected in a special way.
Join Date: 06/03/15
Posts: 42
As a mother of twin girls who are now in their thirties, I can emphatically say there is a uniqueness in their relationship not found in any other. Bree and Beth reflected that bond in this book. Although not always in synch emotionally, there is a closeness evidenced in how they stood up for one another when the stakes were high.
Join Date: 10/15/14
Posts: 363
I, too, have read that twins have a special bond with one another, and it seems that when the times got especially tough for Bree and Beth, they did stick together in spite of earlier differences. I am a middle child, and find that position to give me a unique view of my other two siblings. While they are not close, my relationship with both of them has changed over the years. I have come to understand their roles and positions in the family and society and can accept and support them both even more as we age.
Join Date: 07/16/14
Posts: 405
I don't know if twins are unique in any way but I do know that when my sister and I were younger ( we are not twins ) and even sometimes today, we will sense that something is happening to the other and will pick up the phone to find that indeed there has been an accident or a job has been lost or a child is ill etc. We found it eerie but also kind of cool that we were that sensitive to each other, even when miles apart.
In age, we are three years apart and we are now in our 70's. In some ways we are so different in our values, and choices that we cannot even discuss certain topics and become so angry that we hang up on each other or stop talking for months. Still, there are only two people in this world with whom I can travel for any length of time and she is one.
We have taken four X-C road trips of 2 months duration--we are together 24/7 --we just returned from one this past Fall--went from Vt to Wa State down the West Coast and back through the South. We had maybe three huffy fits, which were over within minutes. So, despite our irritations with each others choices and values, we are sisters through and through. BTW, the other fellow traveler is my husband and we take a 2 month road trip every year to the Southwest and will be leaving soon on this year's excursion.
Join Date: 12/01/16
Posts: 292
Since I don't have twin children or have known any twins in my lifetime, I cannot honestly say if that is true or not. I would think an understanding of one's sister, twin or not, is due to how close they were as children first and if they continued to be close into adulthood. I have 3 sisters and during our growing years my older sister and I were close but the two younger than me were just annoying. But now I am closest to my youngest sister probably because we live closer together and have to take care of our 83 year old mother as well.
Join Date: 08/07/11
Posts: 54
Relationships between and among siblings are a fascinating topic. I have two sisters and a brother, one birth sister and half sister and brother. Our relationships were clearly defined from the beginning by a number of factors. My younger sister and I are extremely close and so much alike even though we are much different in looks and close in age. I also have five of my own children, two daughters and three sons. Their birth order and how they paired and their personalities are absolutely fascinating and a constant topic of discussion, and yes, angst, in my family. My granddaughter has identical four-year-old twin girls. My sister has thirty-year-old twin granddaughters--fraternal. I don't see the same kind of relationship between the twins in both sets. I'm not sure I think that just being twins means knowing each other better. So many factors must create that sort of bond and understanding. The Force of Nature is a book I'll definitely recommend to my granddaughter, mother of identical twins.
Join Date: 08/07/11
Posts: 54
As I read and re-read Maggie's post, I thought again of my children and their relationships. We have the same kind of problems in our family, and part of it is "middle child," part is jealousy because of relationships among them. The older two, male and female, are as close as twins. The third and next to youngest, female and male, were very close, and the fifth was our peacemaker, loved everyone, kept us all together and focused on what's important, close to all of us. Sadly he died suddenly and recently (recently is three years ago, recently to me) We've all kind of fallen apart without him. It is sometimes difficult to maintain relationships as we age. Life happens--and death.
Join Date: 06/05/18
Posts: 263
In the book it was mentioned that Bree and Beth were very close as children. When they grew up they clearly didn't understand the other's motivation for what they did. I have an older sister. We were not particularly close as children but got closer as we grew older. We then grew apart some. At this time we are probably closer than we've ever been. Part of that is, I think, both are parents are dead and we are all we have left.
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