Twinsdom
Twin siblings, Kate and Mark O'Neill, share their intimate and whimsical talks about life and learning
Twinsdom
Let's Start at the Beginning
Twin siblings, Kate and Mark O'Neill, recount their unique birth story, share humorous anecdotes about their family dynamics, and reflect on the challenges and joys of being twins. Their conversation delves into identity, twin intuition, and memorable adventures, offering listeners a warm and engaging exploration of their twin bond.
• Exploring the surprising nature of their birth story
• Reflections on identity and being separated in school
• Sharing experiences of twin intuition and connection
• Humorous accounts of their adventures together
• Teasing the next episode's focus on the podcast's inception
That description was AI generated. After listening, let us know if our future overlords got it right, were we just so darn warm and engaging lol? If you have any burning questions or comments send them in, we'd love to hear from you!
To connect to the blue-eyed, coaching powerhouse that is my twin, you can find her at https://www.oneillcoaching.com/
To connect with me and learn more about my therapy and coaching approaches, you can find me at https://www.emergent-life.com/
But then the nurses. I think they were the one. There was the nurse who said whoa, whoa, whoa, they were closing up. I was out and I think somebody.
Speaker 2:They were closing up. We're closing up.
Speaker 1:Last call the nurse said hey, there's another one coming. Yeah, they thought it was the placenta.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there was me.
Speaker 1:Hi, I'm Kate O'Neill.
Speaker 2:Hi, I'm Mark O'Neill and you're listening to Twinsdom. Are these set at the correct distance?
Speaker 1:Yes, don't lean into them, just pretend they're not there.
Speaker 2:Pretend there's no setup here. Yeah, kate's not wearing headphones and we have a space age recording unit over here.
Speaker 1:Okay, so how do we start? You want to start?
Speaker 2:Start. At the beginning I was saying that the pockets I really like are the ones that I was saying that the pockets I really like are the ones that. Kate is. She says smiling, this could, this could take a while oh, I'm so sorry. I'm trying not to laugh, I'm sorry but the podcasts like are ones where they share about what's happening with them and then go into their subject. But you already told me way too much already. I don't want to know, I don't want to know anything else.
Speaker 3:We should really start somewhere else.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, Mark. You just tell me what to do. Just tell me what to do. That's all you got to do.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 1:Just tell me Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's all you got to do.
Speaker 1:Wow, just tell me, okay, yeah okay, y'all heard that.
Speaker 2:Can I get a glass of water?
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm ready to follow directions.
Speaker 2:No, we're talking about telling our birth story 56, almost 57 years ago.
Speaker 1:Are we 56? I thought we were 55. Are we wait 55?
Speaker 2:oh, my god, wow. You know why? Because I've been telling myself I'm 56, but I don't know last six months or whatever. Okay, you were gonna go with that. I just gotta hear back.
Speaker 1:You were totally to go with that. I just got a year back.
Speaker 2:You were totally going to go with that, though you were like, yes, yes, we are. You're confused. It's all the medication. You lost a year of your life.
Speaker 1:I did question it though.
Speaker 2:You're right. Well, it was almost 56 years ago, june, so aren't you going?
Speaker 1:to introduce the podcast, like you know, twinsdom. Are you going to introduce the podcast Like you know, twinsdom? Are you going to do that?
Speaker 2:How many times are we going to say Twisdom, twins, twisdom, twitter took it, twitter took Twisdom, which are little wisdom tweets, because I'm sure that's pretty awesome. So we're Twinsdom. I'm Mark. This is the voice that's going to push you to sleep. That is kate, over there with the lovely laugh and the blue eyes that you can't see, but they're piercing why thank you with a? Lovely head of gray hair. I also have a lovely head of gray hair it's invisible.
Speaker 2:It's invisible yeah, so it looks like I'm bald, but yeah, so why don't you introduce me? Okay okay, I would love listener out there to introduce you.
Speaker 1:This is Mark Stephen O'Neill. He was born on June 17, 1967. In a very dramatic way, he is a practicing therapist At this time. He is the father of two beautiful children and he is a. He's an artist really. I think yeah. I mean, you've been a writer, you've been an actor, you've been a model, you've had a lot of creative time in your life, things that you feel passionately about Tried and failed at all of them.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't say failure. I mean, what was that the? What was that show in college? The little shop of horrors. I mean you had a good run there, suddenly Seymour. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, godspell, godspell was good.
Speaker 1:I mean, you had a pretty good time with that.
Speaker 2:Very local and very regional scene.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, that was amazing. You also are an athlete. You've enjoyed competitive cyclocross, but you also did things like bike across America. You've always enjoyed that physical adventure and you like sports, which is something important about you as well and you are also a deep diver. You think deeply about things and you are a deeply caring person. You're very present with people when they're with you.
Speaker 2:What's that. Exactly yes, sorry.
Speaker 1:And you're funny, you have a really great sense of humor.
Speaker 2:so yes, at least to you, yeah that's true, you're a Gemini that's true you're a Gemini and you're a twin. I'm a twin, that's right.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to think if there's anything else important to say about you. Is that good, that's good, all right.
Speaker 2:Well, Kate, also 55 years old, also born in June, the Gemini, she does have striking blue eyes. When we were children, people would comment on how beautiful her blue eyes were and completely ignore me.
Speaker 1:We should mention that Mark has brown eyes. I do, yeah, brown eyes and a big head, but Kate is like we're old enough.
Speaker 2:That was black in my photos and her eyes would just be so clear in those photos because her eyes are so blue. She's also a very active individual who has always done something active in her work or life. She has been a director of camps I may not get the exact job description correctly. Ran camps was a lifeguard instructor. Ran the waterfront at YMCA camps as a kid. Was an overachiever as a teenager. As a young person but no longer as a young person. But yes, she was an overachiever.
Speaker 1:I was trying to get into a good college.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you did. You got into Penn State. I did not get into Penn State, I applied, I got in for the summer, which is like, yeah, we kind of like you, we don't have enough people, sure. But Kate, you got right in there and I had to hire SAT, didn't matter.
Speaker 1:Guess, all those extracurriculars paid off. They did.
Speaker 2:You were also a mom. Three amazing children, twin boys, identical twin boys, so I guess it doesn't skip a generation.
Speaker 1:Greatest myth.
Speaker 2:It's true, there's a lot of those, and you have just completed some schooling. Getting your coaching certificate, which I'm very excited about. Kid has a lot of intuition. She doesn't always trust what we're working on. Getting your coaching certificate, which I'm very excited about. Kit has a lot of intuition. She doesn't always trust what we're working on. She is amazing. She is amazing, you are amazing that way. She loves the garden take care of animals.
Speaker 2:salt of the earth, the good kind of salt of the earth, not the one that, like, destroys the fields. And we like to adventure together, Just kind of what this is yeah, because we don't know what the hell we're doing or what's gonna happen Yet yet. Yet, but we know it'll be fun.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:So maybe we should tell the birth story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, start with the beginning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like should I tell her birthday? No, I'll just say June. Was it cold? No, it wasn't. It was a beautiful summer evening. My mother we think we have this right was at either the engagement party or the actual wedding wedding reception reception and she went into labor. My father was not around. He was around, he was just not there. He was. I think he was out west he was was he at the races?
Speaker 2:he probably with the races. He was not around. He must have been at a race. He was a bike mechanic on a motorcycle shop and he had a team that would go and race in different places across the country. Um, that's where he was and everything seemed like a normal birth. Right, beautiful kate pops out into the world and there's joy. And what's amazing these days is that no one knew I was also in there. So no one knew that my mom was having twins. Nope, my mom, so graciously, would say later that she thought she had a tumor that was me like in her side it's kind of amazing.
Speaker 1:They didn't pick up the heartbeats, though, because we were so in sync, our hearts were exactly together. They must have been, though it's really phenomenal when you think about it. Not many people would get to term and not know that there was a second baby.
Speaker 2:Two hearts beat as one. Isn't that a song? Yes, I think so.
Speaker 1:But then the nurses. I think they were the one that was the nurse who said whoa, whoa, whoa. They were closing up. I was out and I think somebody was there they were closing up, we're closing up Last call the nurse said hey, there's another one coming. Yeah, they thought it was the placenta, yeah, and there was me.
Speaker 2:And then more joy and surprise, except for my father.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:But when they called to tell him that he had twins, said that they should keep me.
Speaker 1:That is not what.
Speaker 2:That is literally what he said.
Speaker 1:I think it was about the $200.
Speaker 2:It was the money, yeah, yeah, the $200.
Speaker 1:It wasn't Hold on, let's back up.
Speaker 2:Hey, hey, this is my story. I know it's our story, but this is how I.
Speaker 1:This is how I tell it okay, okay, well see, I was so small kate was six pounds, normal.
Speaker 2:Whatever. I was like four pounds 11 ounces, a little runt. So they had to put me in an incubator for like a week. Think about that a week alone in the with the light.
Speaker 1:Is this about you or it's about both of us?
Speaker 3:we're definitely drifting a little bit into the park.
Speaker 2:It's my sad story. So when they told him actually what the price was going to be, then he said, yeah, you can keep them right well, but then he, he paid.
Speaker 1:I think I or had a payment plan. Okay, okay, so.
Speaker 2:I did dishes to work it off.
Speaker 1:Okay, Mark.
Speaker 2:Anyway, yes.
Speaker 1:Wasn't it when Dad was leaving the hospital Up? Until that point he was like whoa, we have twins and he finally arrives. And yes, you were in the incubator. You had to stay a little bit longer than I did.
Speaker 2:It definitely was not a woo-woo. As he told the story, it was like he thought they were joking. He just couldn't believe that that was true. Right, I do remember that.
Speaker 1:I do remember that. But I remember the scene of not wanting that. It was when he was leaving and they wanted him to pay the $200 and they were like I don't have it, so just keep them.
Speaker 2:That's probably true. Yeah, and I never. I never forgot it, I never forgot it. A week old.
Speaker 1:Okay, we should also mention that we our birth order. Oh yeah, I guess we're born to Stephen and Mary. John was our older brother.
Speaker 2:The others yeah the others. You know what's amazing? Sorry about our birth story, or could have been amazing if daily savings time did not exist, because we were born two minutes before one and two minutes after one. And if it were just regular time, we would have been two minutes before midnight and two minutes after one.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, and if it were just regular time, we would have been two minutes before midnight and two minutes after midnight, so we would have been born on different days yeah, if we were living in Arizona, we would have been on different days see why we know that would have been amazing yeah, all right.
Speaker 2:So I'm sure we'll talk more about our amazing forward to story as time goes on. But our amazing producer, sister sarah elizabeth o'neill, says we're going. Middle names I didn't give your middle name yeah, do you remember it? I swear to god, I had to fill it up and like oh my God, what is her middle name? Catherine Ann O'Neill. Yeah, I did hesitate for a minute, though I was like I don't remember?
Speaker 1:Do you know how to spell it?
Speaker 2:Ooh, oh, my God. Like E or no E, I don't think it has an E.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's right, you're passing the test so far yeah, but what? But you named your son middle name after me with a c mark with a c you know I had to fight hard just to get the mark, so the compromise was a c.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, you know. Knowing what we know now, I'm not surprised yeah, marks with a c.
Speaker 1:I didn't want the c, all right, it was a negotiation and it was a nice thought yeah, exactly, it's a nice idea, you know it's not my name, but it was. It was good, I think I think that happened in reverse too. Your it did. Daughter's middle name is katherine, and it's with a k and I'm with a c I.
Speaker 2:I know that's because I want a TKO. That's why, uh-oh, our producer, sister Sarah, who is amazing in her own right, came up with some questions for us. Our hope is that we're going to have some questions from people out in the ether, but Sarah gave us a head start here. You want to take the first question?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Let me ask you then.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:As a kid. When do you remember thinking or knowing that you were a twin, or what's the first time you understood what that meant?
Speaker 1:I, you know I don't remember really identifying that when we were little, like when we were living in Pine Road, we had a lot of the memories there at the beginning. Those are my first memories of remembering our family and I don't remember identifying as a twin at that time. Family, and I don't remember identifying as a twin at that time, but I think when we entered school is when it became more in in relevancy because they had to separate us. Remember that was the thing with twins is separating when they get into school.
Speaker 2:I do remember that because I went to the new class where I didn't know anybody and you stayed in the class. Oh, listeners.
Speaker 1:There's going to be a theme here. You'll get to know it well you know what's even worse than that.
Speaker 2:I got a spider bite and I had to be on crutches what grade were you? This was seventh grade wow. I went into my new class not knowing anyone on crutches and I had to, like, ask people to carry my books around for me. John Flake, wherever you are, man, you stepped up. I'm eternally grateful.
Speaker 1:You carried my books so, but I, yeah, but in elementary school I know that was a thing and making sure that we were in separate classes. So I would say that's my first memory that being a twin meant something because, they had to separate us whereas you and I, we never really it's true it was never really a thing for us no, everybody thought you and John were twins yes, that is true because I was little and I was hanging out by myself and I didn't have blue eyes.
Speaker 2:So you and John thought we're the twins. So we didn't. We did not have that. You're right, we should talk about elementary school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we should talk about the fact that we have an older brother and I just happened to look more like John, and so that was a thing that people thought we were. We were the twins instead of you and I, and we should also mention that towards the end of elementary school, I grew like six inches in a year. You were the same height, so there was like six inches difference between us.
Speaker 2:I was short for my age right and you matured quickly, so we have one of those photos where you are like a foot taller than me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're like up to my shoulder.
Speaker 2:I got my nice silk. You know, disco shirt happening.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right. Remember, at gym class we had to learn how to disco.
Speaker 2:I do remember I got third place in that contest.
Speaker 1:That's right. I remember that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not sure how, yeah, but it's true. And at the time, donny and Marie, which you need to be of a certain age, but they were huge and they were fraternal twins.
Speaker 1:Donny and Marie Osmond.
Speaker 2:Yes, donny, and.
Speaker 1:Maria Osmond. Yes, donny, and Maria Osmond, which?
Speaker 2:if we have not mentioned that we are fraternal, Not identical.
Speaker 1:We are fraternal twins.
Speaker 2:As many people have asked me. Yes, we do not look alike, but we look more like now. I think, maybe because we're old. Yes, the wrinkles are very similar. All.
Speaker 1:I have to do is shave my head exactly that is the one way, right.
Speaker 2:Would you do that? I wear a grey wig.
Speaker 1:I've always wanted to shave my head like at some point in my life, I think maybe we'll have a listener thing.
Speaker 2:We can have people vote on that. Maybe they'll raise money right for charity to get you to shave your head so we can look alike anyway.
Speaker 1:Sorry yeah, but that I guess that is relevant to the question, because our twin, our sense of twinness, I think, has evolved over time would, would you agree with that?
Speaker 2:I would agree with that.
Speaker 1:You're right.
Speaker 2:Donny and. Marie, though that was the thing, because they were so popular.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we had the smile. We all have this O'Neill smile and the Wonder Twins.
Speaker 1:Justice League.
Speaker 2:Wow, the Justice League Also again got to be of a certain age. But the Wonder Twins put their hands together and say form of. Wonder Twin powers activate form of a water spout. Whatever they did, one of them was like an animal, and one was water sure someone will tell us and they were fraternal exactly so we felt
Speaker 2:very special it's true, I'm sure someone will tell us. And they were fraternal, exactly so, donny Marie. So we felt very special, it's true, at that time. But you're right, I do think as we got older our twinness kicked in more, although I do call us the yin-yang twins because we're so opposite. So that symbol of the black white within a circle, we're so opposite. That symbol of the black white within a circle, we're so opposite, we're the same yes for instance, I'm old and I have small children.
Speaker 2:You are old and you have grown children yes like bonus. I finally have something in common with George Clooney now, which is a six-year-old well, also your firstborn came the same.
Speaker 1:She was born the week that my twins graduated from high school wow, I didn't even know that. Yep so, as my kids were launching into the adult world, your baby was being born or had just been born yeah, got married at different times.
Speaker 2:You got married really young well relatively. I got married old, yeah. So we we have this difference, but we've always had this core thing like our love of adventure well, I'm kind of curious, did? What is?
Speaker 1:your first memory of or being aware of being a twin?
Speaker 2:Honestly, I think it's very much the same there the Donny Murray thing being recognized in school for that, yeah, and then just the sadness I had about being separated and put into a different class. I don't know, I guess separation is a theme, huh.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so Okay.
Speaker 2:No, I think we should definitely do this question.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:This is a question people really always want to know about. The twin thing Is if you ever have any like strange twin feelings, vibrations, where you really feel the other. Have you ever had that experience?
Speaker 1:Well, why don't? I was just going to say why don't you start? What was your moment of an unexplained twin moment?
Speaker 2:Well, my favorite one. I think we were very aligned while you were pregnant, maybe because your boys were twins, maybe it was like an amplification of the twinness. I was living in Nebraska at the time, so you were where Vermont.
Speaker 1:I was in New Jersey.
Speaker 2:We were far from each other and we were talking on the phone and I was telling you that I felt like I was feeling nauseous in the morning, but I'd been going on for like a week or two and you started laughing and you're like oh my god, like you're having sympathy.
Speaker 1:Morning sickness you had that and I remember um, because then it happened again the day I went into labor.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1:Because you called me and you said I'm feeling so nauseous right now or something else, and I had just gone into labor with the boys.
Speaker 2:It's true, and that was sadly the time of the LA riots, the Rodney.
Speaker 3:King riots.
Speaker 2:It just happened. So I thought maybe that's why I was feeling like upset. And then you called and yeah, I'm on the way to the hospital. Kids are being born yeah and you had this beautiful plan the water birth right, wasn't it being florida? Well, it ended up. We were gonna do it at home, but they came 10 weeks early yeah so we had a bugger, we had a preemie, preemie birth situation so it's not what was imagined, but I was there but do you have memories of any other real significant?
Speaker 1:I don't.
Speaker 2:I always feel like that stands out in my memory when I think about our twin sensing thing it's true, although our mother used to say that when one of us called, she would always say like she just hung up with the other one.
Speaker 1:Oh really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, I just got off the phone with Kate. It would be random, not just like Mother's Day or something, it would be like these random calls.
Speaker 1:Huh, that's cool. Yeah, see, there, you learned something you didn't know, I did not know that.
Speaker 2:All right, sarah asked a question if we've ever dated, and still the set of twins, which we have not.
Speaker 1:but I do think we have had the situation where the people we dated we both dated in high school ended up after they. We went to the prom with then we went to the prom with senior prom that we ended up both breaking up with after graduation this summer, before we went to college, I think.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Or in that fall, Yep. And then they ended up getting together.
Speaker 2:They did so cold, they did get divorced later. I'm not saying I'm happy about it, just saying it happened. But yeah, all right, so this one Go ahead.
Speaker 1:I think I'm kind of curious what led to the idea for twins Twinstem, that's oh, you don't want to go there yet? Okay, all right, you want to talk about the coolest things we've ever done together Besides this? Yeah, what's yet? Okay, all right, you want to talk about the coolest things we've ever done together besides this. Yeah, what's? Um, what's the coolest thing? Well, the first thing I thought it was mount kenya. I mean, the time that we spent in in kenya was really amazing. What we were able to do in the short period of time there was really extraordinary, and that was quite the adventure climbing Mount Kenya and doing it the way that we did. But another thing that's going through my mind is we've done as you said earlier, we've always prioritized having adventures together, prioritized having adventures together.
Speaker 1:So I think about the time we met up in montana, um, when you were in washington and we went to glacial national park and I was terrified of grizzly bears, and we did the clark fork river on our glatable kayaks, which we flipped and lost your glasses, um, but we have so many stories like that.
Speaker 2:It's true this has nothing to do with being a twin Right, but do you remember, on that thing, I was thinking I was so tired of wearing glasses Right and we flipped. Now our guide had told us, like when you're in this, like rough water, keep paddling. And we both did the thing where we lifted our paddles. I remember she was like what were you doing? I flipped over but I lost my glasses. We were in the bus ride. It was one of those yellow buses, school buses we're driving back and I was talking about this, that I didn't have my glasses, I didn't have contacts, and the person behind us do you remember this? Literally the person in the seat behind us was like oh, what's your prescription?
Speaker 2:and I it and they had an extra set of contacts. That was the same prescription and they gave them to me.
Speaker 1:Can we take a pause for a second on this podcast?
Speaker 2:Are you asking the producer? Yes, we can. Can we pause?
Speaker 1:Can we just pause? Yeah, we can just pause. Okay, this is all going to be edited anyway. We're just trying to be quiet so that if you guys say something great, this is not going to be edited.
Speaker 3:anyway. We're just trying to be quiet so that if you guys say something great, we don't want to be talking. We never did get back after our pause, so I'm going to wrap things up here and invite you to listen to the next episode, where we will answer the burning question about what inspired the creation of the Twinsdom podcast. Until then, thanks so much for listening.
