I Have a Doppelganger (#unrelatedtwins)

I have a doppelganger. Anyone who follows the series Vampire Diaries or The Originals knows the meaning of doppelganger. For those of you who do not, it simply means a twin unrelated to you by blood. Many people believe that everybody in the world has a double. I remember my Dad telling me the same thing growing up. When I was a little girl, I recall flipping through the pages of a book about Africa in full color showcasing their beautiful clothing and braided hairstyles. Toward the back of the book, I saw myself in a picture of a little girl around the age I was and it freaked me out! She was my identical twin; my doppelgänger. This was the first time I had ever heard the word. My Dad told me we would go there one day and find her. Well, of course, that never happened. But I’ll never forget the feeling I got looking at this little girl living a million miles away in a third world country that looked exactly like me.

Well now, over three decades later, I met a woman who reached out to me, through a group on Facebook, to tell me how much we looked alike. I was so shaking about how much we favored. After talking and looking through one another’s photos and comparing pictures, we instantly became friends. Through a little family lineage research, we discovered that we were not related by blood. Thus the term doppelganger explained our relationship!

Consuela Romero, whom I call my Sissy, is very special to me. We both have the same moles under our right eye, and strangely enough, our eyes are almost the same. We do have the same smile lines, skin color, eye color, and crochet hobby. I can’t wear earrings but that’s a small difference in a sea of similarities. I sent a picture of her with her son to my family members and they asked me who was the man in the picture with me? That was pretty amazing!

As if all the coincidences aren’t enough, we could have been meant to meet one another years ago. When I was a nurse in the late nineties, I took care of an elderly woman named Ida Mae Peoples. I remember her because she said no one in her family lived in Alabama and she was my first patient who told me they were ready to die and actually did. Well a few days ago, while talking I found out this Ms. person was related to Consuela. I am a doppelganger with my most memorable late patients’ great niece. As Ms. Peoples conditioned worsened, I recall her calling me Consuela. I hope that perhaps she felt that she wasn’t alone before she passed.

I don’t know how many people out there actually have a twin or if it’s possible everyone in the world has one. But I’m grateful to have mine in my life now. One day soon we will meet. With all that has been happening in both our lives, I can’t imagine my life without her and I love my Sissy very much! We started out just wanting to be friends and ended up family. I say we are both very blessed!

Consuela. Valerie

Valerie. Consuela