And Then There Were Two

Within minutes of meeting someone new I almost always hear, "OH MY GOSH! You totally remind me of (insert random name here)." Then they turn to whomever they are with and say, "Doesn't she totally remind you of (again, insert name here)?" They then usually try to explain to me how they know that person and why I remind them so much of them. It really doesn't bother me, because I've decided that it makes the new people I meet feel more comfortable. Once that conversation is over I generally never think of (insert random name here) again. It's been happening consistently for years.

There is, however, one (insert random name here) that I have been dealing with for quite some time. It all started about two years ago when I was in Chicago visiting with my family. My little brother, Johnny, was talking about his best friend's girlfriend. I remember laughing and saying "Ryan has a girlfriend?" (No offense Ryan, it's just that up to this point I assumed you and Johnny were involved.) Johnny gave me the confused look and said, "Apparently!? I had no idea either. It's kind of weird though, because you guys look a lot alike." My dad then walked into the room and said, "Yeah, it was really weird, because I saw them together today and asked Johnny, 'What's Ryan doing with Melissa?' " Now I was intrigued.

Ryan's girlfriend and I got sick of hearing how much we looked and acted alike, so we decided to become friends on our own (aka, added each other on Facebook). But this past week, Helen and I were able to meet face to face at Johnny's wedding.

Luckily the world did not blow up when we met as many had predicted.

Within a few minutes of meeting eachother, Helen asked me where I got my dress. She then got a sly smile and mentioned that not only did she HAVE that dress, but that she had tried it on for the wedding - but then changed her mind. Fate. We sat by eachother at the reception dinner, and realized that we REALLY are a lot alike. So much so, that even my husband was a little bit creeped out.

Helen, I must say that I had so much fun getting to know you better, and hope that in the future we can end up at the same summer camp, get matching hair cuts, and then switch parents when the summer is over.

The nice thing about this whole experience is that when people say, "Would YOU be friends with you?" I can honestly say, "I already am."