A surprise visit from my (deceased) grandmother

This weekend marked my local mother of twins club’s 60th anniversary! That’s pretty special when it comes to a club. We women can often be hormonal, moody, and “sassy” so I have to give much deserved kudos to the Ventura County Mothers of Multiples Club. This club has managed to maintain a supportive environment for mothers of twins, triplets, and at least one set of quads for 60 years! When you realize that this club grows it’s members with many pregnant and recently delivered mothers (who, if they are anything like I was post delivery, are crying when they see a hat – before it ever drops) then you realize the potential for disagreements. It makes me even more proud to be a part of such a wonderful group that supports its members and potential members like they were sisters. (That’s the nice sister that you like, not the evil step sister that broke your glass slipper – in case you were wondering….)

ANYWAY…..

This weekend many of us were able to gather for a brunch and visit. Our club had many scrapbooks of photos from over the years on display. I looked through a couple to see some of our “seasoned” members but didn’t spend too much time at the scrapbooks because I wanted to visit with my fellow moms. While I was getting ready to leave I noticed a black and white photo album with familiar looking photos. I thought, these look like some of the photos from when my parents were kids…. And then it dawned on me…. there could be pictures of my mom and uncle in this album! They were twins and the club is 60 years old!

My mother and uncle are the fraternal twins on the right side of the top row in the photo above.
This photo was previously published by the current local newspaper of the time.

I turned not 2 pages and saw it. A photo I was very familiar with. My mom has this photo in an album that used to belong to her mother who has passed away many years ago. I stood there in a bit of a shock. I AM A MEMBER OF THE SAME CLUB MY GRANDMOTHER WAS IN 50ish YEARS AGO! Goose bumps filled my arms and tears filled my eyes. I’ve always wanted to talk to my Nanny (my mom’s mom) about what it was like for her to raise twins. Sometimes I find strength in knowing that she was able to raise all 5 of her kids (3 singletons and 1 set of twins) mostly on her own since my grandfather passed away in his 50′s. (They were older parents for their time. Nanny was 36ish when she got married and had twins in her 40s.)

I find it unbelievably comforting to know that Nanny and I have both found such support in this club. Back when she was a member it was called The Double Trouble Club. Years later it was renamed The Ventura County Mothers of Twins Club and then several years ago was amended to The Ventura County Mothers of Multiples Club. These club name changes make understanding how neither my mother nor I knew that these photos were taken from a twins club easier – and why we had yet to put this puzzle together sooner.

I continue to be amazed at how we are all so carefully woven into this rug of existence. I am inspired knowing that both my grandmother and I were not only chosen to mother fraternal boy/girl twins, but that we both found the same club to help support us through our twin parenting journey….