An uncanny resemblance

When my youngest brother, Michael, was born back in 1997, everyone was convinced he looked exactly like me. Of course, being a bratty 7-year-old girl back then, I didn’t believe it. But the comments wouldn’t stop. Even strangers and new family acquaintances would marvel over the resemblance between us. As I got older, though, I began to see it bit by bit. We have the same facial shape and this weird morning eyes thing that our faces are contorted in when we wake up. As Michael grew older and developed more of a personality, our mom would not stop comparing us. We’re both stubborn, hot-headed, and just plain weird. We both sing randomly to ourselves, make odd noises, and we have practically the same personality. We’re more social and outgoing whereas my other brother, Jeff, keeps more to himself.

At any rate, now my parents have never been more convinced that we’re secretly twins just seven years apart. Michael’s in the 7th grade now (funny how that number keeps popping up), and all 7th graders have to participate in a science fair. My project when I was in 7th grade had something to do with water evaporation. If I recall correctly, I was testing whether or not different additives affected the rates of water evaporation — something like that.

Michael’s science fair project? How different food colorings affect water evaporation.

It is eerie. My parents theorized that Michael must have subconsciously remembered my own science fair project when he was conceiving ideas for his own. I shot this down, though, because Michael must have been around 4-years-old when I did that, and it was a project that was quickly forgotten after the report was submitted and presentations were finished. There’s no trace of the project left, not after two house moves and the 8(?) years that have gone by; I didn’t win any major prizes, so it’s not like there’s pictures or certificates of me with my water evaporation experiment lounging around the house. Michael himself said that he just made it up, found the idea on his own while researching.

Or, as my mom now says, he just really does think like me. In which case…good god, that kid is going to have some rough years ahead of him.