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Dana and Delanie Kriner, 25, are identical twins who grew up in Ohio.
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They did almost everything together growing up, from cheerleading to attending the same college.
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This is their story, as told to writer Julia Pugachevsky.
As identical twins, we’re used to people not being able to tell us apart. There are very small differences between us: Dana is a little more reserved and the bigger decision-maker between the two of us, while Delanie is more outgoing and talkative.
Growing up, we did everything together, from cheerleading to tennis
Everything we’ve done has been a “we” thing, whether we played volleyball or soccer. We coordinated what we did by asking each other if we were both interested in trying something new. For example, Dana switched over from long-distance running so we could do shot put on the track team together.
Our togetherness helped us improve our skills, too: We were captain and co-captain of our high school varsity cheerleading team. We also played as doubles on the tennis team, where we felt so connected as a duo that we made it to the finals during our freshman year.
We also went to the University of Toledo together and made all the same friends. Because we’re so alike, our friends would always vibe with the other sister as well.
We swapped places many times, mostly to see if we could get away with it
For fun, we liked to switch places in class to see if our friends or teachers would notice. We did it over 10 times, and only got caught once.
The one time we got caught, we were in middle school and swapped our math and science classes. But Dana forgot Delanie’s seat assignment and asked another student where her desk was, which a teacher overheard.
We kind of got in trouble for that — the school worried that if there was a fire drill or other emergency, they’d have no way to track us down. We didn’t think it was a big deal because we respond to both of our names anyway.
As we got older, we still occasionally traded places as a favor. During college, we both swapped classes when the other twin was out of town so that they’d still get marked for attendance.
We now live in different towns and have different jobs, but are still incredibly close
Even though we finished college during the pandemic and took classes together at home, our paths diverged slightly when we chose different majors. Dana pursued a criminal justice degree with a minor in psychology, while Delanie studied healthcare administration with a minor in business.
The choice led us to different careers — a police officer for Dana, a nursing home administrator for Delanie — but not too far apart. We still both live in Ohio, about 15 minutes away from each other.
We still make it a priority to do things together, like attending the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio, which we’ve been going to since we were 10. This year we served on the “Royal Court” of the festival as ambassadors who talked to festival first-timers and rode in the parade float. It was a great way to spend a long weekend and honors a tradition we’ve loved since we were kids.
It was a great way to spend a long weekend and honors a tradition we’ve loved since we were kids.
Read the original article on Insider
