Do you know?

Their parents had come over to be with them at this special time of the year — Easter — a time for the renewal of hope and faith.

And what hope and faith they must have in Crystal and Ruth, who are second-year students at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mount Hope!

They were friendly and likeable, and I took to them instantly. I engaged them in conversation and sought to find out their feelings on the subject of being twins.

They were tall and stately. They looked alike; they walked alike; but what were they thinking? I discovered that they enjoyed the situation.

Crystal, however, assumed the role of “big sister” and Ruth did not mind that at all. They informed me that Crystal was born eleven minutes before Ruth.

“Ah!” said I to Ruth, “then you are older than Crystal.” They had never heard the saying, “First in, last out,” which supported the theory that the child born second was older than the one born first.

That may be a West Indian (or is it Barbadian?) “old-wives’ tale.”

But they were not interested in any reversal of roles. Ruth was content to remain in the shadow of Crystal, who is forthright, down-to-earth, and knows exactly what she wants out of life.

Neither of them is as yet interested in husband-hunting, but Crystal made it clear that when she did get one, he would have to be an intelligent six-footer (they are both 5’9” tall).

After graduating from medical school, Crystal plans becoming an optometrist.

“I do not want to deal with anything messy,” she stressed. “I want to have a clean job, and nothing associated with death.”

It struck me that she might blind you, but she has no intentions of killing you. Of that you may be sure.

Ruth, on the other hand, is tender, loving and caring. She plans to become a paediatrician. She loves children, kittens and old people. She intends to remain in the Caribbean, and take care of her parents when they get old.

I asked them about their names. Why “Crystal” and “Ruth”? One would expect something like “Crystal” and “Opal,” or “Ruth” and “Naomi.” They could not explain the reason for “Crystal” and promised to ask their parents about it, but they informed me that “Ruth” represented “a companion.”

I remembered the scriptures well. Ruth said to Naomi, her mother-in-law, “Whither thou goest, I will go...” Concerning “Crystal,” I have done some research on my own, and I made an interesting discovery which revealed that the name “Crystal” was not at all far-fetched when applied to twins.

Perhaps you already know about what was new to me along that line. Here is what the “Oxford Reference Dictionary” has to say on the subject of twins:

“‘Crystallog’ — a compound crystal one part of which is in a reversed position with reference to the other.”

I am happy to have met you, Crystal and Ruth.