Three Identical Strangers

When I tell people my story

they don't believe it.

I guess I wouldn't believe the story

if someone else were telling it, but, I'm telling it

and it's true, every word of it.

Il started when I was born, 56 years ago,

but the real story began when I was 19 years old

and I went to college.

It was 1980. Ll was the firs! Day 01 school

at Sullivan County Community College up in the Catskills,

about 110 miles from where I grew up.

So, I drove up there alone.

I I gel the same old dreams

I Same time every night

I Fall (o the ground and I wake up...

I used to have this really old car. Ll was a Volvo.

And it was a 1970 Volvo.

Had like 130,000 miles on it.

And the car was burgundy and the hood was green.

Actually, (he car was called the Old Bitch.

I Since you been gone

I Since you been gone

I I'm out of my head... J“.

But the Old Bitch got me there.

Sullivan was a community college.

This wasn't some longstanding institution of higher learning.

All these station wagons are dropping kids off.

I was nervous, I'd just gotten to the school,

I didn't know anybody. I was a freshman.

I was never the captain of the football team in high school,

so I was never really like popular.

So, I'm walking around trying to find where my dorm is.

Meanwhile all these people are coming up to me

saying "Hi, how are you?"

"How was your summer?"

"Mine was great. How was yours?" "Super."

Why are they asking me how my summer was? I don! Know.

Everybodfs being extremely friendly to me

and they're going out of their way to do it.

I don't mean just a 'hi',

I mean, claps on the hack and high fives.

And I was a little hit bewildered by this

because no one gets this kind of a welcome

on their firs! Day at school.

And girls were kissing me,

like fully kissing me saying, "I'm so glad you came hack."

And I was saying 'thank you' and 'hello' back

but I had never been (here before and I didn't know them.

L! Was bizarre.

And the next thing I heard from right behind me.

"'Welcome back. Eddy!"

"Eddy! How are you'! Eddy, hi!"

I'm like, "My name's not Eddy. I don't know

'what you're talking about. I just got up here."

"Sure, Eddy, you're really funny,

'you're really funny, real funny."

I'm like, "I'm not Eddy. I don't know who Eddy is."

'Welcome hack, Eddy", they were all saying.

I finally made it to this dump of a dorm room.

Before a minute had gone by...

"Who now? Who now is gonna come to find Eddy?"

I had been at college

the previous year with Eddy, and I knew

that he wasn't coming back to school.

As soon as this guy turned around, I...

I was, I was actually shaking.

I was... I know all color from my face dropped

cos I knew it was his double.

He had the same grin, the same hair, the same expressions.

It was his double.

And I see this guy's face and he's like...

just standing there.

"The first thing out of my mouth was 'Were you adopted?"

Er... and I was like, "Yes."

Isaid, "ls your birthday July 12th?" He. Said yes.

I was like, "July 12th 1961."

"Oh my God", I said, "You're no! Gonna believe this."

I said, "You have a twin brother. You have a twin."

"Oh my God."

I said. "Come with me."

And the two of us are crammed into (h is phone booth.

Shoulder to shoulder and you know, we had to like,

close the door of the phone booth.

And I'm trying to put the coins in

and they keep falling on the floor

and Bobby's picking up (he coins.

And he calls this guy and he's like,

"Hey, Eddy, you're not gonna believe this,"

"you're not gonna believe this."

"Eddy, Eddy, you are not gonna believe this."

This guy's more hysterical than I am like weirded out.

"Eddy, you are not gonna believe this."

So I was like, "Give me the phone."

So I'm like, "Hi, Eddy?" "Yes."

But it was my voice that said, "Yes."

And I said, "Hi, Eddy, my name is Robert Shafran"

"and, er... I'm meeting all these people"

"who say I'm you."

And he said, "Uh-huh, yeah, I've been getting some calls."

I said, "Were you adopted?" and he said, "Yes."

And I said, "When was your birthday?"

"July 12th."

And I said, "Do you know what the name of the agency was?"

And he said, "No, hold on."

And I heard him go like, "Mom?"

And he came hack and he said, "Louise Wise Services."

Sometimes when you are just having a dream,

you know this can'! Be real, this can't be real.

But you know (here's nothing you can do to slop it,

start it, change it, you just go with it

and that's what I was doing.

I just wanted to see what was gonna happen next.

Nu'. I'm “he, “his go. Let's gamed Eddy!'

So we gm into the Old Bitch.

It was about 9 o'clock a! Night

and it's about a two-hour ride.

And we were speeding on route 17.

We were going 100 miles per hour, perhaps more.

We were speeding.

We're driving as fast as (his car would go.

Il was shaking.

And we go! Pulled over by a New York Stale trooper.

And as I roll down my window (here's this gigantic cop

with like the sunglasses even though it's night time.

In the big hat.

He said, "You know, lclocked you at BB in a 50."

"Son, you better have a really good reason."

And I was like,

"Well, Officer, you're never gonna believe this."

The two of us are like yelling at this guy.

"You, you don't know,

'this guy, this guy has a Min brother,

"he was adopted and we're going to Long Island to go see..."

And, and, and the guy was, "Yeah, right." You know.

"Here's, here's your ticket have a good day."

And onto Long Island we went.

So, we go! There.

But it's like, the middle of the night.

And ifs this really quiet neighborhood.

So, we get out of the car.

And walk up this little path to the house.

And the lights were on in the house.

And I reached out to knock on the door

and as I reached out to knock on the door it opens.

And there I am.

His eyes were my eyes and my eyes were his eyes

and it's true.

They looked exactly alike.

They're duplicates o! Each other.

There was no doubt in my mind that (hey were twins.

He's going, "Oh my God." I'm going, "Oh my God."

He's going, "Holy crap." I'm going, "Holy crap."

They just looked at each other and they moved...

Every time Bobby moved his head, Eddy moved

and then Eddy would move and then Bobby would move,

like, like they were looking at a mirror.

L! Was the weirdest thing.

Il was like the world faded away,

and it was just me and Eddy.

So, I'm in the newsroom, it's the middle of a busy day,

we got a call {rum somebody

who says they have an amazing story to tell us,

we are not gonna believe this story,

and my first reaction, "Ah, it's a hoax."

So, Hold our reporter, "I wanna rem a plane."

In those days we had enough money to do this.

"I wanna rent a plane, I wanna see these two kids face to lace"

"or I don't believe this."

We flew lhejoumalist up to Sullivan Community College

and he called me and he said, "Howie, it's true, it's true."

And I remember saying, "Oh my God, this is a great story."

"This is a memorable heart-warming story."

And then the story went from being amazing to incredible, OK,

from amazing to incredible.

I was on the New York Subway.

Quite late at night.

Read an article about two boys who found each other.

That were twins separated at birth

and found each other

alSullivan County Community College.

There was no picture. But the story was fascinating.

I came home, and went to sleep.

My mother came into the room

and said, "Wake up, wake up, I have to show you something."

And she shows me a newspaper

with a picture of two boys

and I had to like, focus and I looked a! The photograph

and I said, "Is that David?"

And she's like, "No, but look at (he hands."

And I was like, "Holy mackerel. This is beyond amazing."

It was a picture in the newspaper of two guys,

in (he "Post" and I picked up the picture

and I looked at it,

and I was like in shock,

cos the two guys in the "Post" looked exactly, exactly

like, like my friend David. I shred a! It.

And it wasn't even just the look on their face.

It was the way that they were holding their hands.

They have these big meaty hands. And David always had this,

these hands that looked like baseball mitts.