child's play

“Big Boy?”

“Heeeeeey! Whatchoo doin’, Dork Face.’”

“Nuttin’.  Callin’ YOU, Dork-a-rama.”

Mutual laughter.

That is (no lie) the guaranteed banter my twin brother and I share when we call each other to check in every week, or more than likely two.  The initial name calling lasts about a minute.  It’s kind of like a competition of who can hold our breath the longest.  We keep trying to outdo each other’s name calling by creative standards until someone FINALLY just gives in, laughs and says “How are you?” 

Some might find it odd, but child’s play works for the two of us.  It guarantees a smile at the beginning of the conversation.

I would say we are still pretty dependent on one another, even though...geographically speaking… his song is “Rocky Top Tennessee” and mine is “OOOOOOK-lahoma”. Ever since we were little, we have always known of each other’s whereabouts  and well-being, whether we agreed with it or not, and trust me, we have had our disagreements.

A huge turning point for us was when I knew he was leaving for University of Tennessee on a football/ track scholarship and I was going to compete in pageants so I could go to University of Oklahoma.  Obviously our “team” was disbanding, and I did not know how to handle that.  That thought was completely “alien” to me.  I mean, everyone spoke about “big brother” watching… but I literally had a big brother watching over me…all the time.  I was shy and was completely fine hiding behind his presence and accomplishments.  But all of a sudden, I was not “Big Boy’s” twin sister Erin anymore, it was just… Erin.  She was on her own to find her own voice and notoriety, and had NO CLUE where to start.  I believe he was lost in the sense of he didn’t have anyone to “watch over”, this time he was the one being watched.

I believe the phone bill was upwards of $600.00 that month.  We realized how much we missed each other and what adjustments needed to be made, but we also realized that although we were miles apart, we were still a part of each other.  Our freshman year was the first time we realized we would be just fine this far apart.  It was then we decided to keep things humorous and it was the first time my twin brother closed the conversation with…

“You can’t let that stuff get to you.  Just let it go. Okay?  Okay?”

“I’M NOT….I’m fine, really.”

“Okay. Well, I love you, Dorky-pine.”

“I love you, Dork-a-saurus.”

..and the guaranteed banter continues today in some similar, creative way.  No lie. J