Sandia and Sean Hughes were the first twins to be born at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital on April 24, 1976 – and this past week they celebrated their 50th birthday.
Growing up, Sean and Sandia both said they had their interests and personalities and were very different from one another but were close friends.
“We had three older sisters, so they didn’t want to play with me, so, it was always Sean and I playing together and he liked cars and I liked Barbies. So essentially, we would just, he would play with the cars and then I’d be like, ‘OK, take the Barbies for a ride,’ stuff like that,” Sandia said.
Sandia added that she was always shy, and Sean would speak up for her no matter what.
“So, like if we go to a friend’s house and they’d be like, ‘Would you like a cookie?’ My brother would be like, ‘Yes, we would like a cookie,’” Sandia said.
Sean echoed the sentiment and said he was raised to help his sister out.
“I’ve always felt like her older brother, even though it has been a couple minutes, and I’ve always been protective of her, especially growing up. And just felt that, especially my mom, she kind of raised (me), ‘You’re the man, you should be looking out for your sisters,’ even though I was younger and we have some older sisters,” Sean said.
When asked how they would describe their relationship, Sandia said it was like a “string that can never be cut.”
Sean described it in a spiritual way by saying before they came to Earth, they signed a “contract to do life together.”
“When I think of Sandia as my twin, that means we decided that we were going to do this together for some reason at this place in time. And maybe it’s a need for each other, maybe it’s because we thought we’d be a string for each other,” Sean said. “Maybe it’s because we challenge each other … So, I just feel my sister has been a strength in my life. It’s really great to have somebody that you know, you can count on all the time. I’ve had that my entire life. I don’t need a relationship to know that I can count on someone.”
While talking about what their favorite things were about each other, Sean said Sandia’s kindness and Sandia said Sean’s work ethic.
“He’s a hard worker, and he has a really good work ethic for sure. And I definitely emulated that in my life. And then I love that he’s really creative, just like myself, in a different way. Like he does the music and he does the artistry, whereas mine is more of maybe an inner creativity, but it’s still fun,” Sandia said.
“If she’s taught me anything up to this point is, it is kindness … you really are working with two different energies, a feminine and a masculine energy,” Sean said. “We’re on the same page where with her feminine energy and her intuition, she’s taught me over time, and it’s taken me a while to get here to understand compassion, and, and be kinder, and, and the kindness that she shows.”
