I've tried to approach this issue with the sensitivity and delicateness it deserves. I hope that readers sense this in viewing this piece. In order to appropriately speak of something in which I do not have personal experience, I've interviewed several individuals who have actually lost their twin. I hope that this piece will possibly enable readers to glean some understanding into the psychology and connection of twins through hearing about life after a the death of a twin.
Identical and fraternal twins reported a seemingly unexplainable sense of loss. This author can only speculate that twins' bond is created within the womb and fused in growing up together in a common environment.
Henrik Voelund lost his twin sister, Charlotte, to cancer in 1983. Voelund, from Denmark, writes, "Until Charlotte died I think we, as twins, had kind of isolated ourselves from the rest of our family and for years we kind of lived our own private life within the family. I believe this way of isolating from the rest of family is very typical for the way also other twins live and why it is so hard when the other dies. http://members.nbci.com/twinstory/losing...
"My father also died from having cancer, he died when I was still a child. His death was very hard on me. Charlotte's death was more difficult for me handle since it felt as if I by her death had lost an essential part of myself I for so long I didn't know how to live without. Losing is hard."
Linda Burke of Springfield, Virginia, lost her twin brother Lee in 1997 to a heart attack. They were 51 at the time. "Living without Lee, even after 3-1/2 years - it's awful but bearable. I miss him and I still wish he was here with me. Lee and I were very close with (our) brother Rick. Rick died of a heart attack just seven months before Lee. I have two brothers who died within seven months of each other, I loved them both, but I will always be bonded with my twin and that is the difference." Burke has created a website exclusively for twinless twins to help them deal with their loss. http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/...
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