The One Twin Sister Had to Die So the Other Could Live
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It’s March in Bridgend, Wales. Everywhere is cool and damp.
Jennifer had her head lying down on June’s lap. She was sleeping but with her eyes open.
Jennifer had told June that she knew she was going to die. One of them had to die so the other could live. They were one soul and were supposed to be one person.
If only one of them was alive, they’d be free from suffering.
“We once were two, we two made one, we no more two, but through life, we will be one.” — June wrote on Jennifer’s tombstone.
Jennifer and June were born on April 11th, 1963. Their parents were Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons.
The twins grew up in Haverfordwest, Wales.
From a very young age, the two knew they were one soul split into two. They shared a strong bond. They had a speech impediment and could only understand each other.
But no one understood them when they tried to speak. Jennifer and June were frustrated and decided to stop talking to people.
The two created their own language.
Their teachers grew frustrated with them at school.
Jennifer and June were completely emotionless. They didn’t react when someone called their names or tried to get their attention.
The other children started picking on them in school. This was worsened by the fact that they were the only black girls there.
Their parents took them to a psychologist.
Jennifer and June were diagnosed with selective mutism. (A childhood anxiety disorder characterized by a child’s inability to speak and communicate effectively in social settings.)
The sisters’ parents sent them to a special education school. Then, their new teachers realized that the twins weren’t speaking their own language. They were speaking sped-up English.
Jennifer and June were actually very smart.
The girls didn’t have a social life. When they weren’t in school, they locked themselves in their room away from society.
They only talked to their little sister when they shared a room together. Once she moved to another room, they stopped talking to her.
The twins had no desire to talk, not even to their parents.
They used letters to communicate with them. For instance, they wrote letters to their parents suggesting the TV shows they wanted to watch and when. They watched TV from the hallway in front of their door. Their parents also had to leave the room for them to eat.
The sisters began to walk in sync with each other. They stopped and stared at any passersby who looked at them until they left.
Jennifer and June wrote in their diaries that they thought it was best for them to separate. They felt this would help them to eat, talk, and live normally.
Jennifer and June were separated.
“It would be a good idea if we separate. I think one should go and one should stay here. We act stupid when we are together. Some people think we don’t want to separate but we want to. Because it really is the best thing for us. Wrote June.
It would be good if we separate. We both fight for the best things. We are both willing to lead our own lives. When we’re together we just keep on depending on each other too much.” — wrote Jennifer.
But they stopped doing anything after the separation. They stopped eating, sleeping, and being mobile. The twins became catatonic.
Then, they were reunited.
Jennifer and June became depressed because they just couldn’t break their silence no matter how hard they tried. They tried writing books to help them with their communication. But the books didn’t do well.
At the age of sixteen, the sisters met another pair of twin boys from the USA. They fell in love and spent the summer together partying with them.
Then Jennifer and June began fighting over the boys.
The boys returned home after the end of the summer. That hit the twins hard. They took their anger out on society by burning down a huge store.
Jennifer and June were arrested. They had to be kept together because they became paralyzed once they were apart. Meanwhile, they began hating each other and wished each other to die.
The sisters were sent to a mental health facility, where they stayed for almost twelve years.
The two wrote to their parents. In one letter, Jennifer mentioned that she knew she was going to die.
Jennifer’s death and the aftermath
A month before they turned thirty, they were transferred to a different hospital. Jennifer mentioned that she felt sick and in pain. She told June that she knew she was going to die.
Jennifer was sent to the hospital, where she died on March 9th, 1933.
Her cause of death was acute myocarditis. There was no trace of poison in her system.
June was released from the facility after a year. She stated that she was relieved that her sister was gone and that a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
She felt free.
“I feel that I’m living for her. That’s what she would have wanted for me to go on and live for her. Every day, I wake up and say to myself well, there’s one more day for me, but one more day for my sister as well.
I’m lucky to be alive while she’s gone. I thought I’d never get over her death, but it has made me ten times stronger.” June stated.
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