This mom was amused when her son told her he had a twin at school. However, nothing could have prepared her for the surprise she got when she saw this mysterious friend.
Britney was in the kitchen packing lunch when she saw something out of the ordinary play out in front of her. Miles, her 5-year-old, skipped into the kitchen with a cheeky smile on his face. She stopped in her tracks, noting with mild shock and confusion that what she saw was real and not her mind playing tricks on her.
Her son, who had been gloomy the past few months, was in a happy mood that morning. She was so overjoyed that she didn’t realize she was staring. Soon after, Miles broke her out of her reverie with his own inquisition. He saw that his mother had packed a bologna sandwich and chocolates for him today. Ecstatic, he flashed her a bright smile in gratitude. He needed a little addition, however, and that was extra chocolate.
Finally finding her tongue, Britney asked why he needed more sweets, and his reply left her completely flabbergasted. Miles innocently reported that he wanted to give them to Tanner, his new friend. This reply shocked Britney to her bones. However, nothing could have prepared her for the next words her little boy was about to throw at her.
Her 5-year-old son claimed that this new friend was his twin and that they were very identical with similar brown hair and eyes. For this reason, he wanted to eat the same sweets as him. Britney was stunned by the revelation. It was a lot to process. First of all, she found it hard to digest Miles’ change in behavior in such a short amount of time. And secondly, a twin? That was absurd, to say the least. But Britney reckoned she would not have it any other way. She was finally getting the jovial Miles she had not seen in a long time, the part of her son she had lost after one pitiful incident that occurred a few months ago.
Miles was a bright, happy-go-lucky kid who had a good way of putting those around him in a cheerful mood. Growing up, he had a childhood friend named David with whom he shared most of his happy and playful moments. The kids were inseparable and shared a bond that their parents believed would be long-lasting. However, they were in for a major surprise.
One day, David’s family suddenly moved upstate. This action tore both boys apart, especially Miles, but there was nothing they could do about it. The little boy became dejected. He cried bitterly the day David left, and as the days went by, he slowly became a shadow of himself. Little by little, he withdrew from his family, only occasionally speaking a word or two in each interaction.
Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, and Miles’ social battery was still as low as a koala bear’s. Britney was at her wit’s end, thinking of what to do about the situation. She thought of introducing him to a new kid in the neighborhood or coaxing him day in and day out to revive his social energy, but nothing worked. The departure of his old friend had left a wound too deep in Miles that she was afraid time would not heal.
So, imagine her surprise when he magically waltzed into the kitchen bearing news of a new friend, who apparently wasn’t just a friend to him but a twin. Britney desperately wanted to meet this new friend, whoever he was. She owed him a debt of gratitude for reigniting her son’s social spirit. She thought of ways of getting this done, perhaps paying an impromptu visit to his school or maybe asking him to introduce her to him.
Her mind raced with so many ideas of meetups, but before she could get ahead of herself, she paused and thought for a second how this major impulse could backfire. Miles was just becoming his usual active self, and she wanted nothing more than to let things play out without interference. With great reluctance, she withheld herself from intruding on her son’s business, believing that Miles would talk to her about his friend when he was ready. For now, she took solace in the fact that he was sharing at all, and all she would do was commit every little detail to memory.
A few days later, Miles mentioned Tanner again when the family was watching a TV show. Britney caught it almost immediately, and her mind raced with so many unanswered questions. Was this friendship genuine? How long was it going to last? How long before Tanner transferred and left a moody Miles 2.0 behind? Most importantly, who was Tanner and was she ever going to meet him? Little did she know that when she got answers, she would be in tears.
Some weeks later, Miles’ older sister Winnie informed their mom that there was going to be a twin day at their school. According to her, it was just one of the fun dress-up days for their school’s Red Ribbon Week. Each student would pair up with someone who would be their twin, and both would wear matching outfits to school. For the next few weeks, preparations for this event were in order.
During this time, Britney focused on getting matching outfits for her daughter, who already had a twin to match with, but that was all she did. Honestly, the young mother didn’t know what to do about Miles. In fact, she reckoned he wasn’t interested. After all, they’d been discussing the event for days, and Miles never said anything about wanting to participate. In addition to that, the little boy was in kindergarten, and Britney did not know any parents she could contact to discuss preparations with. As a result, she focused on Winnie, who, for the record, was the only one looking forward to twin day.
However, Britney was unaware of the terrible mistake she had made and the serious price she was about to pay for it. Right before bedtime, she told her daughter to get her twin outfit ready for the next day. Then, as if she’d spoken a trigger word, something clicked in Miles’ head, and he told his mom all of a sudden that he had asked Tanner if he would like to be his twin for twin day, and he agreed. Britney was taken aback at that moment. How was she supposed to take this? It was already 8:00 p.m., a bit too late to start making any preparations whatsoever.
Plus, she still had no idea who Tanner was or who his parents were. How was she going to get matching outfits tonight? What size did Tanner wear? How was this going to play out without it ending with her disappointing Miles? He was a kindergarten kid, so she could excuse his last-minute show of interest, but really, what could anyone do at such a late hour? Britney had lost herself in her musings, but notwithstanding, she still managed to flash her son a reassuring smile and tuck him in for the night. But after shutting his door behind her, she got down to business.
She texted his class teacher to request Tanner’s parents’ contact. Unfortunately, she could only get Tanner’s mother’s name, as there was no phone number on record at the time. Britney’s devastation reached unimaginable heights. What could she possibly do with a name now? Britney was tired and defeated. Miles would definitely be disappointed if this didn’t go according to plan, not like she knew there was a plan prior to bedtime. Just the image of his sulking face formed a knot in her stomach, and with that, determination set in. She would solve this problem come hell or high water.
With newfound courage, Britney tried a new approach. Although it seemed entirely unhelpful, she thought to put what little information she got to good use. So, she searched Tanner’s mother’s name on Facebook, and hope boomed in her chest when the search produced a result. However, whatever positive feeling had formed within her was dashed in a split second when she saw that the account was deactivated. Britney felt like she was back to square one, but this mama bear was not about to quit. She began messaging everyone in town on Facebook in hopes of finding someone, anyone, who knew the woman. After much struggle, she finally got her hands on Tanner’s mother’s number.
It was 8:30 p.m. on the clock. Although it was not the most holy of hours to place a call, Britney reasoned that the situation was dire enough to warrant it. So, she hit the call button and jumped in silent satisfaction when Tanner’s mom picked up. The woman spoke softly, confessing that she had thought of reaching out to her in passing but got distracted with work.
She also admitted that Tanner had spoken an awful lot about Miles but had not been exactly bothered by twin day. Since they were on the topic, Britney proceeded to ask her if she was okay with the boys twinning the next day regardless. As expected, Tanner’s mom was fine with it. Both women spoke a while longer before Tanner’s mom gave Britney her son’s size and other basic information she needed to know.
Now that she had support from the other party as well as his size to work with, Britney did the unthinkable that night. She left her house and headed straight to Walmart to get matching outfits. Never in her life had she pictured herself at Walmart at 9:00 p.m., trying to find an outfit for her son and a boy she’d never met. As soon as she got to the clothing section, she was hit with a new problem.
What outfit should she buy? Shopping for children’s clothing was a bit tasking and all the more insufferable when it involved kindergarteners whose mood and fashion sense were as uncertain as the weather. What color would they both prefer? Would they like t-shirts or button-ups? If Tanner was anything as picky as Miles or worse, she feared she might end up disappointing not one but both boys. The thought of her son not liking what she picked out made her sigh in exasperation. Nonetheless, she kept pushing
. She was still on a mission and was so close to accomplishing it, even though she was extremely tired and stressed at this point. Finally, after much deliberation, she took a gamble with a pair of flannel shirts and hoped, prayed even, that it fit Tanner.
The moment of truth came the next morning when she woke her kids up for school. The minute she presented the apparel to Miles, she noted with delight the pleased look on his face. He loved it immediately. Miles wore his shirt to school and put Tanner’s own in his backpack. After they left for school, Britney decided the suspense was enough. It was high time she saw the identical twin her son was so fascinated by. So, the young woman reached out to his class teacher and asked her to send a picture of the boys in their attire.
Within minutes, her phone buzzed with the anticipated message, and Britney braced herself as she clicked the download button. She was antsy yet ready for anything. However, nothing could have prepared her for the changes this one click would impart in her life.
As soon as her eyes descended on the image on her phone, her breath hitched in her throat. In that picture, Miles was shown flashing a cheeky smile at the camera, and beside him was the young gentleman she assumed was Tanner, who was showcasing a small grin. Both of them were wearing the flannel shirts she bought, and here came the shocking part: those shirts were pretty much the only identical things in the photo.
She wondered how on earth Miles thought he and Tanner were identical. Aside from the matching shirts, they looked nothing alike. For one, the most obvious difference between both of them was their skin color. Miles was light-skinned with semi-blonde hair, while Tanner was noticeably dark-skinned with black afro hair. There was no brown hair like Miles claimed, and they did not have the same eye color either. They were far from identical; they were of completely distinct races and colors. Yet, Miles looked beyond that and saw a twin in Tanner.
Tears pooled in Britney’s eyes as she tried to make sense of the whole thing. Before she knew it, her legs gave up on her as her body became weak with emotion. With a hand covering her mouth and her eyes still trained on the image on her phone, Britney broke down in tears. She was moved by her son’s innocence and his ability to overlook the obvious differences he and Tanner had. At that moment, she felt immense pride in having a son like Miles, one who could remind people that there’s still good and innocence in the harsh world.
Immediately, Britney took to the streets of Facebook to share this experience. It was a one-in-a-billion moment that she wanted everyone to witness. One does not get to meet such good-natured people often in their lives. Britney expressed herself in writing and posted the picture of Miles and Tanner for everyone to see. As expected, the people of the internet were just as moved by the story and the message it conveyed, and Britney was thoroughly pleased. However, she did not expect her post to go viral in such a short space of time. Shortly after the post was shared, it gained over half a million reactions and was shared close to 300,000 times.
Miles’ innocence resonated with many people’s view of humankind, and this served as a lesson for many, including his own mom. His innocent words changed the perceptions of people who thought racism was an innate habit or a curriculum taught in school. With just one innocent gesture, Miles was able to convince a community of people that ancestry and the color of skin didn’t matter, but only the heart did.
From that moment on, Britney accepted Miles’ best friend as his twin, irrespective of their dissimilarity. After twin day, she found out that Tanner’s family lived nearby, and just after the post went viral, the families met up to spend some time together. Gradually, Miles became more social than he was just a few months ago, and his mom found this development to be pleasantly relieving. Things were definitely looking up for this family, and Britney couldn’t ask for more.
