My daughter has taken to grasping onto things.
Today, during yoga, it was my ponytail.
Which made for quite the interesting Cat/Cow situation.
She’s very tactile,
And loves to feel things, to grab things, to hold things and to touch things at all times.
But, nothing compares to her most favorite object to grab,
My beloved Twinkle necklace.
Interestingly enough, little does she know that my necklace isn’t actually 100% mine,
That it also belongs to her,
(hey, maybe she’s a baby with a sixth sense about these things….
Or, maybe she’s a baby who loves nice jewelry, who knows?)
And will be dangling from her own long, beautiful neck when she grows older.
You see, my Twinkle necklace is a most special necklace, from a most special person,
And it brings me immeasurable joy to know that she loves it already.
But, I’ve gotten ahead of myself.
Let me backtrack.
To Barcelona.

You see, an incredible thing happened to me when I was 19 years old.
I found out that I had a long-lost twin sister.
My twin sister and I were born on the same day,
(albeit one year apart),
We had the same brown hair,
The same full-lipped smile,
The same love of literature,
And Showtunes,
And sushi,
And cupcakes.
The same heart,
And, most definitely, the same soul.
My twin sister and I found each other through an amazing series of events
That led us across the Atlantic Ocean,
And onto the big, red couches in our beautiful Barcelona apartment.
You see, Twin and I were both signed up to study abroad in Barcelona for the Semester, and were randomly assigned as roommates,
Along with three other girls.
I can remember receiving the email with my housing information,
Seeing her name on the form,
Emailing with her, late one winter night, from the computer at my parents’ house,
Discovering that, amazingly, we were born on the very same day.
What a coincidence.
I liked this girl.
I couldn’t wait to meet her.
I remember waking my parents up to tell them that I talked to one of my roommates, and that she was incredibly sweet and shared my birthday.
My mom’s response?
“You two are going to be life-long friends.”
There’s that mother’s intuition again.

When Twin and I met, it was love at first sight.
I immediately adored this girl with the beautiful, big smile,
Incredible intellect,
Adorable wit,
And sweet, strong demeanor.
We spent endless hours talking,
Confiding in one another,
And growing closer than I’d ever grown with a new friend.
We also spent endless hours watching Sex and the City on DVD.
As I’ve said before, Sex and the City has been a big part of my life,
And I think Twin would agree with me that it was one of the things that bonded us first,
And bonded us most.
My friendship with my Twin only grew as our semester ended and we each returned home.
We talked often, through emails, texts, late-night phone calls, video messages, letters, postcards, e-cards…basically, through every way possible.
We exchanged care packages and
love notes,
as nothing brought such a smile to my face as seeing her beautiful handwriting on a letter peaking out of my mailbox.
Our visits were the best. We visited one another at each others’ homes,
And took trips together,
Including the time when we shared an amazingly fabulous hotel room in New York City…and did I mention, my husband was there, too? Let me tell you, she is the only person with whom my husband would agree to have a sleepover.
You see, they’re in love too.
She’s my Twin, so it’s all good.
The weekend we spent together in NYC was the absolute best.
It was in February, so it was frigid, but we lived out all of our SATC dreams,
Sipping champagne over brunch,
Dining out on exotic sushi at after 10pm,
A twilight stroll through central park, arm-in-arm,
Playing dress-up in FAO Schwartz
(well, maybe this one was more Big than SATC, but let me tell you, we had the best time).

Twin has shared more with me than I can write about.
We are bonded,
In a way that I am bonded with no other human being,
Because of the things we have endured together,
And the incredible understanding that we share.

It was Twin that slept over with me the night before my wedding,
As we sipped on Cosmopolitans from my own personal Cosmo bar in the Bridal Suite (let me tell you, having a wedding coordinator who is also a huge SATC fan is a giant perk) and dined on cupcakes and snuggled in the biggest, coziest, most luxurious hotel bed.
It is my Twin who has seen me at my best,
And seen me through my worst,
And she has loved me,
And held me,
And been exactly what I needed, when I needed it,
For everything important.
And let me tell you, there’s been a lot.

So, it comes as no surprise that my Twin got me the most meaningful present for my birthday this year. You see, my baby was due the week of our shared birthday, so we both hoped that she would be our extra special birthday gift and would surprise us by coming on that day.
Well, true to form,
My daughter was fashionably one week late for our birthdays,
But right on time for her own due-date.
I think my daughter needed her own day.
She’s just that fabulous.

When I opened the birthday box that my Twin had sent to me,
I was blown away, truly.
She wrote that she wanted to give me something special,
Something that I could share with my baby girl once she was old enough.
Something just perfect,
To get lost in the silk lining of a vintage purse.
It was my own name necklace.
But, it wasn’t my own name.
Nor was it my daughter’s name,
As that was a secret.
It was a Twinkle name necklace, with a diamond over the “I”,
The most beautiful, perfect, fabulous necklace, with just the right amount of bling.
You see, before the baby was born, we called her Twinkle.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
Even when she was born and named, this baby would always be our little glowing star.
Not only is the necklace itself amazing,
But the sentiment behind it is truly priceless.
My Twin got us an heirloom,
Something that represented our own relationship with one another,
Something that symbolized my future relationship with my precious daughter,
And something that nodded to our favorite show in the world.
A better present, there has never been.

So, the fact that my daughter has taken to grasping her tiny fingers around the Twinkle necklace
Makes me think she is a little smarter than her eleven and a half weeks would suggest.
She knows the love behind that gold nameplate.
She knows that it will, one day, be hers,
A constant reminder of the family that she will know and love.
As Carrie Bradshaw says,
“Sometimes, it’s the family you’re born into. And sometimes, it’s the one you make for yourself.”
My Twin is my sister.
She’s a part of my heart.
She’s my family, as she’s in my blood,
As we’re forever tied by this strange and amazing kinship that neither of us could ever describe,
Or ever replace,
Or ever live without.
We dream of going back to Barcelona together,
And who knows,
Maybe, hopefully, someday we will get there,
With our own families,
And revisit where our most special story began, many, many years ago.

But, for now, just as Carrie herself says, “After all, seasons change. So do cities. People come into your life and people go. But it’s comforting to know the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you’re very lucky, a plane ride away.”