“Are you ladies sisters?”
“We’re triplets.”
*gasps, eyes widen, mouth falls open*
“No!”
*eyes begin scanning from face to the other, presumably trying to discern identical features*
“But you’re not identical, are you?”
“No, we’re fraternal.”
*shocked expression gives way to a smile*
“What’s like to be a triplet?”

This exact scene has been enacted and reenacted at least a five hundred times in my adolescent life, and I know that it will happen again. As soon as the word “triplet” leaves my lips, I know what to expect. Congratulations human. You have met triplets.

And yet, somehow the fact that I am one of three girls who were carried together in the womb, born together, and raised together manages to amaze me too. How? How did we manage to be  the one birth out of 8,100 that resulted in three babies instead of one? The odds are always a bit mind boggling.

There is a story my mother always likes to tell, of back when she was pregnant with the three of us. Whenever she would go out with her belly swollen wide before her, people were always curious. Often they would drive by with the windows rolled down, calling out “How many?” And my mother would proudly hold up three fingers, wearing a smile bigger than her belly.

Growing up with two girls my own age will always be a treasured memory of my childhood. The three of us were (and still are) more than best friends, more than sisters.When we were babies and one of us cried, the other two would also start crying, regardless of the fact that there was nothing for them to cry about. When we were toddlers we had a language all of our own which no one else could understand save ourselves. When we began kindergarten we were separated for the first time into different classes, but that didn’t change a thing at home. Our room was the unceasing scene of dress up, “house”, and long winded make believe games involving stuffed animals, intricate convoluted plots, and of course, more dress up. We had different games for everything. In the bathtub, we played at being mermaids, in the wild recesses of our one acre backyard, we played at being nature fairies or explorers trying to find their way out of the jungle. In the evenings when the grownups were eating their dinner, we played a game whose sole objective was to make it under the dining table undetected and tickle the grownups feet. We did argue of course, and more than once fists began to fly, but these scuffles were generally over petty things and ill will never really lasted longer than an hour or two.

At school, we always shared the same group of friends who often referred to us collectively as “the triplets”.  Fellow students whom I have never spoken to and don’t a thing about have been heard to say “That’s one of the triplets,” as I walk past. My parents, on the other hand, were always careful never to refer to us that way, wanting preserve our sense of individuality. Nevertheless, being one of “the triplets” has somehow become ingrained in my identity.

As we grew older, our personalities seemed to grow to compensate for each other’s weaknesses. If one of us was useless at working with computers, then another would enjoy coding. If one of us had limited cooking abilities then another would be able to whip up a full blown meal, ect., ect.

As we entered high school we began collaborating more and more on homework and projects. Whenever a test rolled around we always have what my mom calls a “built in study group.” Don’t understand problem number eight? Ask one of your sisters. You have a project due tomorrow and still have a ton of work to do? Your sisters will stay up late with you helping to get everything done.

Outside of school, we form our own dance trio, play on the same tennis team, work for the same non-profit organizations. We have have our own pet names for each other, and we fangirl together over the same books and movies. Whenever there is an event to go to, we try on dresses together, do each other’s hair and makeup.

However, now college looms in the not so distant future. Besides the fact that my parents are going gray trying to figure out how to pay for three college tuitions at once, my sisters and I have another fear; separation. We have been together since before birth, and now chances are that life is going to separate us, possibly even into different states or countries. We will live apart, probably seeing each other only during vacations, keeping in touch through the internet. Who are we going to be without two thirds of our souls at our sides?