Twins die same day

[K.C.]

This really freaks me out. My twin brother has always said that he and I are going to die on the same day.

 

 

NY-born twin friars die on same day at age 92

Posted at: 06/06/2011 2:16 AM

 

(AP) Buffalo, N.Y. – Identical twins Julian and Adrian Riester were born seconds apart 92 years ago. They died hours apart this week. The Buffalo-born brothers were also brothers in the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor. Professed friars for 65 years, they spent much of that time working together at St. Bonaventure University, doing carpentry work, gardening and driving visitors to and from the airport and around town.

 

"It was fun to see them, just quiet, gentle souls," Yvonne Peace, who worked at the St. Bonaventure Friary for nearly 21 years, said Friday.

 

They died Wednesday at St. Anthony Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., Brother Julian in the morning and Brother Adrian in the evening.

 

Both died of heart failure, said Father James Toal, guardian of St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg, where the inseparable twins lived since moving from western New York in 2008.

 

"It really is almost a poetic ending to the remarkable story of their lives," St. Bonaventure spokesman Tom Missel said. "Stunning when you hear it, but hardly surprising given that they did almost everything together."

 

Julian and Adrian Riester were born Jerome and Irving on March 27, 1919, to a couple who already had five daughters. They took the names of saints upon their ordination in the Catholic church.

 

"Dad was a doctor and he said a prayer for a boy," Adrian once said, according to St. Bonaventure. "The Lord fooled him and sent two."

 

After attending St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, the brothers were turned away by the military because of their eyesight, the university said. One had a bad left eye, the other a bad right eye.

 

Eventually they joined the friars of Holy Name Province in New York City. They received separate assignments before reuniting at the seminary at St. Bonaventure from 1951 to 1956. After serving parishes in Buffalo for 17 years, they returned to St. Bonaventure in 1973 and spent the next 35 years there.

 

They had separate rooms in the friary but one telephone extension that rang into both, Peace recalled. It was usually the more talkative Adrian who answered, though Julian possessed a quiet authority. They never said who was born first.

 

"Brother Julian was like the big brother. Brother Adrian would defer to him," Peace said. "They picked up one of our friars at the airport one time and the friar said, `Can I take you to dinner?'

 

"Brother Adrian looked at Brother Julian and said, `We aren't going to dinner?' `No, we'll go home,'" Peace said. "So that was it. No discussion, no contradicting. `No, we aren't going today.'"

 

Funeral services are scheduled for Monday at St. Mary Our Lady of Grace Church in St. Petersburg. Afterward, the brothers' bodies will be flown to Buffalo and buried Wednesday at St. Bonaventure Cemetery, across the street from the university.

 

[Marzipan]

Oh wow. That was a touching story. Maybe the other broter's heart just broke when his companion in life died?

 

I could never crasp the unique relationship between twins. I'm an only child so understanding basic sibling relationships are not my speciality either.

[Breeze]

That is a little freaky...I'm a twin also and thats something I've wondered about too. Touching story.

IMO the twin relationship is different I suppose, but I've never been able to describe it. I've always had a twin, but no older or younger sisters, so I have nothing to compare it to.

[Cia]

My dad and uncle are incredibly close and have spent most of their lives living just 10-15 minutes apart, if not actually together. My twin brothers don't seem to be able to go more than a few months living apart either, though they're trying to go into the army so that will probably happen for the first time in their lives here soon. They twin bonds in my family seem to be incredibly close to each other but to die on the same day? I don't know about that. I think I am glad not to be a twin, the relationship seems stifling to me but to those who are twins it's all you know so you are probably used to it.

[skyler1]

What a wonderful yet bittersweet story. To spend over 90 years in companionship with a twin sounds wonderful. It sounds like their love for one another was unending and continued even into death and whatever waits beyond that. That kind of bond is something that most of us will never experience or totally understand, and yet many of us might envy.

[K.C.]

I can’t imagine life without my twin. We have 3 older siblings, but there’s a big age gap between us and them. It crazy when people ask what it’s like to have a twin and I can’t describe it, because I don’t know any different. He's a part of me and I'm part of him...forever

 

 

[Breeze]

I know what you mean KC. We have two older brothers, but our age range is actually quite close. Theres only 3 and half years between oldest and youngest(us) We`re very close and when people ask me what it`s like, I cant answer them. I just say `` That not once have I ever not had a best friend. We were wombmates``, lol.

[Krista]

I have, 3 sets of twin brothers and sisters.. and yeah they are all inseparable. They also have the biggest blow ups and fights, but they always tend to make up in a shorter amount of time than siblings that aren't twins. I think it's cute.

[Skyline]

I can’t imagine life without my twin. We have 3 older siblings, but there’s a big age gap between us and them. It crazy when people ask what it’s like to have a twin and I can’t describe it, because I don’t know any different. He's a part of me and I'm part of him...forever

 

 

 

Just out of curiosity KC, is your brother gay/non straight also? The reason I ask is because a big part of my psychology course I took was, of course, twin studies, and there were many examples of twins being closely related in sexual preferences (ie, both being gay, both having identical taste in women, etc.) This is of course assuming that you are identical, not fraternal twins.

 

One interesting case study we looked at, involved identical twin boys, Jim Springer and Jim Lewis, whom were separated at birth. Despite having been both raised in separate adoptive families, they discovered after meeting for the first time at age 39 they had an obscene amount in common. To quote my textbook,

 

"Both had married twice, and each had a son named James. Both men smoked, and even smoked the same brand of cigarettes, and both preferred Miller Lite Beer. Both worked as volunteers for their local police departments as part-time sheriffs, favored poodles as pets, suffered from the same kind of headache symptoms when under stress, and bit their fingernails. Both Jim's did woodworking as a hobby, and they were the only people in their respective neighbourhoods to have built a circular bench around a tree in their yard. When given a series of psychological tests, they were strikingly similar in their pattern of personality traits."

Quite similar indeed!

 

At any rate, I wish I had a twin, I think it would be interesting to see how similar (or different) we turned out from each other.

[K.C.]

Just out of curiosity KC, is your brother gay/non straight also? The reason I ask is because a big part of my psychology course I took was, of course, twin studies, and there were many examples of twins being closely related in sexual preferences (ie, both being gay, both having identical taste in women, etc.) This is of course assuming that you are identical, not fraternal twins.

 

 

We are identical twins but he is straight. We have participated in a few studies when we were in our 20’s. We participated in Nature Vs. Nurture Studies in the early 90‘s. Our mom says that we are each others perfect opposite and if you put us together we make 1 perfect person.

 

It’s funny when, whenever someone tells me that they want a twin, I always say, “You can have mine!” JK! I would never trade him, like to strangle him some days, but I’ll always love him.

 

 

[Former Member]

We are identical twins but he is straight. We have participated in a few studies when we were in our 20’s. We participated in Nature Vs. Nurture Studies in the early 90‘s. Our mom says that we are each others perfect opposite and if you put us together we make 1 perfect person.

 

It’s funny when, whenever someone tells me that they want a twin, I always say, “You can have mine!” JK! I would never trade him, like to strangle him some days, but I’ll always love him.

 

 

 

That's really interesting. My best friends growing up were a set of identical twins. Well when I say identical, I could tell them apart. I was one of the few that could. It's hard to describe how but one had a slightly slimmer face.

They had Similar personalities as well. Both were in to heavy metal music and played in the same band. Both loved horror movies.

 

As for the fact that one of you is gay, the other straight, is really interesting as well. The friends I grew up with, we drifted a part when we were all 14. I'm not sure what their sexual orientation is but I think they were both straight.

[Former Member]

I have, 3 sets of twin brothers and sisters.. and yeah they are all inseparable. They also have the biggest blow ups and fights, but they always tend to make up in a shorter amount of time than siblings that aren't twins. I think it's cute.

 

3 sets of twin brothers and sisters! What are the odds of that?

[rustle]

This story makes some sort of sense. The 2 friars shared the same environment for decades, doing the same work, as close as 2 people can be, with the kind of intimacy that you only find in married couples.

 

Quite often, married couples die within a few months of one another. These two didn't just share a life, but the same genes.

[Dark]

Such a neat story! I agree with eon, too, about it making sense for them to die together. My sister and I are just over a year apart and people used to ask us if we were twins all the time. I miss those days! We had a big fight in college and things haven't been the same since. I doubt they ever will. It hurt so bad, because we'd always been close ... Back when we were kids, about the only difference between us was our hair color. As we grew older, I started to look more like my dad and she looks quite a lot like my mom now. It's funny.

[JohnN53]

I don't get this thread.

 

Mired in last place in the American League Central, with a record of 22-37 and 11 games out of first place, the Twins are dying many days...and nights.

 

What makes one rotten day of playing baseball different from the rest?

[Michael9344]

It's a sweet story. It makes sense that they died together. Since they both spent that huge time together, if one died and the other stayed alive, I think he'd be miserable. I'm not a twin and I don't understand the bond but I know that it'll be strong. It's probably good that they both died together. Live together, die together.

[MarkSen]

This is a really touching story. I wish I had a twin brother. I mean, I have an older brother, but our age difference makes our relationship ... different. If I had a twin brother, I'd have a best friend for life. That'd be sweet.

[Rilbur]

I don't get this thread.

 

Mired in last place in the American League Central, with a record of 22-37 and 11 games out of first place, the Twins are dying many days...and nights.

 

What makes one rotten day of playing baseball different from the rest?

 

I honestly don't get this post. Did you even bother to read the thread before spouting off what honestly looks like gibberish?