It turns out that lots of my fun is had through the conversations, the interactions, and the exchanges I have with the random strangers who cross our path. Now believe me, my closest (and nicest) friends will tell you that I am anything but a social butterfly. Those close friends are few and far between, and I’m not one for large groups. I recall a time when I was loath to engage total strangers in a conversation, and I all but actively limited my number of acquaintances. This desire to talk to people when I’m out in public is only one year old, as old as my twins, if that. Frankly, during the twins’ infancy I was often annoyed at people constantly approaching me to gush at my babies when all I wanted to do was get my shopping done before someone (or something) exploded. Trying to nurse, heal, and caretake didn’t ease my grumpiness at the time. But everything got easier, as everything does when you practice it 24-7, and soon enough I began to enjoy talking to people about my babies. Quinn and Moia have become a jumping-off point for many conversations that did not just focus on their twin-ness. We talk with people from many backgrounds and age groups about childcare, nursing, motherhood, you name it. Many of the people we talk to have twins themselves, or their friends do, or their cousin of a sister-in-law does, but just as often they don’t have twins and they tell us all about their own children. It is a wonderful opportunity to hear stories, some that prove useful, some that inspire camaraderie, or just a chance to laugh together. And I never would have engaged in any of it if I didn’t have these exceptional babies.

How foolish of me! How foolish of all of us! Every time we enter our town centers, our grocery stores, or our malls, we are surrounded by people who have something to say, even if it is just hello. I don’t know if it is particularly a quality of the Northeast, we here we live particularly solitary lives, interacting only with our friends and family and pretending that the rest of the population are ghost images who can’t and won’t talk to us. I have to assume (and hope) that other places are full of people more willing to engage the total stranger. It is a habit I intend to keep even after my twins cease to be a conversation piece. And even if I don’t make a lasting connection to a single person I meet on the street, connecting to the total stranger who inhabits my community, even if just for a moment, makes my life richer.