Monday, January 23, 2006

Happy Birthday Twins!

It's Jan. 23rd, and 20 years ago today, the twins were born. They were born at 6 mos - three months premature. They looked like miniature old men, and were about the size of my hand, with tiny little stick legs and wrinkled skin everywhere.
They were tough and hung in there, and finally got out of the hospital after two full months of treatment and care. They weighed 4lbs each when they got out of the hospital.
We flew to England right away, and stayed there for three months, living with a family near Bath in the Cotswalds while my husband played polo. Then we went to Deauville for a month, and then to Paris for two months, then to the US, Argentina, England again...and so on for nearly ten years.
The twins were regular little globe-trotters, packing their own bags and makeing sure they had their stuffed animals with them. One day Alex looked at me and said, "Mommy, I'm known all over the world!" Yes, especially after the time he lost his first tooth in the middle of an important polo final and had most of the spectators looking for it in the grass, while the announcer told everyone to please keep an eye out for Alex's tooth!
Sebi was always a clown, and people still tell me about things he said to them when he was little (to my friend Julia who lives in London - "I love your island. England is so nice." and "Now I'm a dead chicken" - when she had to carry him upstairs to his bed because he was too tired to walk.)
They made travelling more fun, as I got to look at the world through children's eyes, and more scary too, as in the day I had to drive forty miles through the Argentine Pampa looking for the doctor's office to put stitches in Alex's head. (He got hit by a polo mallet - guess who didn't look behind him when he swung it! Yes, Sebi!)
We never saw snow or fog, being mostly in places with warm climates, so the first time they stepped outside on a foggy day they started rubbing their eyes and asking me what was wrign with their eyes. And when the leaves fell off the trees and vines in Bordeaux, they thought all the trees and vines were dying and cried. They had never experienced fall, winter, then spring. When we settled down, they were impressed with our new hotel (the apartment building) and thrilled to have their own beds.
We could finally have a dog, and we adopted a black Lab and named her Fudge. She slept with Alex every night until she died age eleven. We moved a lot - polo still pulling us this way and that - but the twins managed to change schools and houses with no trouble.
And now they're in college, away from home, and it's wonderful that they've grown so, and sad for me that they've left home. But I'm awfully proud of them! Happy Birthday Alex and Sebi!

6 comments:

Madeline Hill said...

What wonderful memories..I do that too, at my son's birthday my mind travels all over the years.. and the good times..

Do you still have to move a lot due to your husband's work or are you settled in France now??

Happy B.DAY..after all YOU did all the work that day,20 years ago!!

Sam said...

Thanks Maddie!!
No, we're pretty set now - although my husband still travels a lot. He'll be gone 10 days in Argentina, and then a whole month of April in the south of France. One of my twins has the travel bug - he loves to travel. The other loves to stay put, lol!

Patrice Michelle said...

Happy Birthday to your boys, Sam! What a cute story you've told of them as little kids growing up! I loved it!! :)

Wynn Bexton said...

Thanks for sharing these lovely family memories. And a Happy Birthday to your twins!

Sam said...

Thanks Patrice and Wynn!

Tara Marie said...

Congrats to the boys (young men really) you've gave them a wonderfully interesting childhood.