Wednesday 6 April 2011

Judith and Hamnet

Real warmth in the sun today, spring breeze, and a garden full of colour. River muddy brown but happy.

Daughter and Lovely Older Son are twins, and I've been thinking a lot about twins and all things twinnish lately. Looking through old photographs with Lady Sunshine, I remembered how, when they were very small, LOS and D always had each other. They didn't cling, except when they first started playgroup and school, but they each knew that the other one was around if needed.

When they were born I couldn't believe that this was happening to me - boy and girl twins! Isn't that what everyone wants? And, yes, it's good. Hard work, but good. And just now I keep meeting boy-and-girl twins. There seem to be a lot of them about.

I was reminded of the Shakespeare family. William Shakespeare and his wife Anne had a daughter, Susannah, then twins, Judith and Hamnet. But health was precarious in those days, and young Hamnet Shakespeare died at only eleven years old. I imagine Judith, with nobody to tease and to tease her, nobody to quarrel and scrap with, nobody who's just there, like your shadow. Yes, she had a big sister, but that's a different relationship. Judith Shakespeare needs writing about.

On a lighter note, nobody gets up to mischief like twins. I should know. Anybody out there got any good twin stories?

4 comments:

Rina said...

Twins must have been fun. To be, or to have around the house.

You could write about Judith... I'm always ready for whatever you choose to write next, though.

R.

margaret mcallister said...

I've just tried writing something about Judith struggling to cope with the loss of her twin, but it's a hard thing to write.

Grace said...

As a little kid I wrote a book about twins, who practaclly had the same names. It was called THE GROSS TWINS. The two twins were toatly disgusting in the story. I never got far with it though.

margaret mcallister said...

It's a great idea, Grace! Kids would love it. But their parents might not buy it for them.