A Tale of Two Tethered Twins

There are twins, and there are conjoined twins — what people used to call “Siamese twins.”

This is a tale of two conjoined twins, one set who lived and died in the dark ages of the first part of the 20th century, and another set living a much different — and happier — life in the 21st.

Conjoined twins are simply two people sharing the same body or who have mostly separate bodies but who are joined at the spine or head — or who share one set of internal organs.

Really, there are any number of ways that twins can be conjoined, and most often they don’t survive long after birth if they can’t be surgically separated.

But sometimes the unseparated twins DO survive and can go on to have fairly long and satisfying lives.

It all depends on the support they get.

Violet and Daisy Hilton are an example of conjoined twins who did not get much love or support when they were growing up. Born in England in 1908, their 21-year-old unmarried mother sold them to a couple rather than try to raise them, feeling they were a punishment for giving birth out of wedlock.

The couple that bought the girls saw an opportunity to exploit their appearance through freak shows and later on the vaudeville stage, forcing them to perform by singing, dancing and playing instruments.

Over the years, the Hilton twins became famous and even shared the stage with Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin. They made lots of money, but their “parents” kept it all and held the girls virtual prisoners -- and beat them if they were defiant.

Eventually, the Hilton sisters were able to legally extricate themselves from their tormentors and became relatively rich for their time. Not knowing anything about money, however, they let it slip away through foolish spending.

When the money was almost gone, they made a biographical movie about their lives, describing their many struggles.

Unfortunately, the movie flopped and they gradually fell into poverty, ending their sad days as small town grocery store checkers in 1969.

Abby and Brittany Hensel have been living almost the exact opposite existence of the Hilton twins. Born in 1990 in Minnesota, they have been cherished and loved unconditionally by their parents.

Their story is truly amazing, as they go through life with what appears to be two heads on a single body. But their particular conjoinment allows them to drive a car, dance, go swimming — even ride a scooter.

I can’t imagine the physical and emotional obstacles each of these sets of twins faced and had to somehow overcome.

One set had to battle their way through life almost alone, while the other set is today enjoying life with the constant love of parents and siblings.

I feel extremely sorry for Daisy and Violet Hilton, who were found dead of the Hong Kong Flu in their home. An autopsy showed Daisy died first and Violet -- two to four days later.

Truly horrible. My heart goes out to their souls.

My prayer is that Abby and Brittany will have a much better ultimate fate — although as with everything else they do in Life — they will face their End together.

May that day be far, far in the future.