The Cook Twins - 75th birthday
Remember these cute kids? Well, they were 73 years younger the last time I pointed them out. Still can't guess? Here's a little hint:
http://aboutourbabies.blogspot.com/2004/01/grandma-dearest.html
Yep, it's my Grandma Betty (on the left) again and her twin sister, Louise (on the right). The both of them are pictured above on their 75th birthday. You may remember that we lost Grandma Betty a little over a year ago, just short of her 90th birthday. Her twin, Louise, my great aunt, who never really left the East Coast, we learned just yesterday from her son Carl, passed similarly to Grandma in her sleep on Saturday, just short of her 91st birthday.
Louise and Betty were born together, in lieu of an incubator, they shared the warmth of the kitchen oven (no, really!), they celebrated birthdays together, grew up together, went to school together, lost their husbands the same year, learned to become widows together, vacationed together, and died almost within a year of each other. I'm sure that they right now are looking down on us together.
The loss of Louise feels like the closing of the chapter of the Cook twins and fortifies my determination to give them some sort of honor and recognition. When I first learned Paul and I were to expect twins, I automatically thought to name them in some way that would draw a similarity or parallel to my Grandma and the whole twin phenomenon. I feel even stronger about it now.
If we had a boy, I wanted to name him "Gianni [pronounced "Johnny"] Truesdale" (Truesdale was the maiden name of the twins' mother, Dora, as well as my Grandma's middle name). My first pick for a girl name: "Bettina Louise." Now that they are both girls, I want to name the younger one "Bettina Louise" as my Grandma, whose birth name was Bettina, was the younger between her sister and she.
My Grandfather also had a sister Louise and probably to honor both of their sisters, my mother, their only daughter, was given the middle name "Louise." Paul's not fond of "Bettina" (come to think of it, he's not fond of any of my names), but likes "Tina." I think I'm going to stick to my guns on this because the thought remains steadfast.
My heart goes out to Carl and his family in the loss of their mom. It was hard to get accostomed to living without Grandma Betty, even knowing that her last years weren't her best and comfort was easier found for her with her passing. I'd like to see this series of events lead to a positive in the passing of the torch between twins - one set newly lost and another on the cusp of new life. I hope in my girls, the Cook twins can be remembered and hope that they share much of the closeness that Louise and Betty did.
