James, Jim, Lewis, was adopted by a couple in Idaho in 1940, when he was just three weeks old. James, Jim, Springer, was also adopted by a couple in Idaho in 1940 at just three weeks old.
It took Jim and Jim 39 years to discover that they were identical twins and not only did they have the same nickname, but their lives mirrored each other completely.
like a lie
Jim Lewis loved math and building, but was inherently bad at math. He had a puppy named Toy and married a woman named Linda. He and Linda divorced and Jim married a woman named Betty a few years later. He had a son named James Alan Lewis, worked as a security guard, drove only Chevrolets and was a chain smoker.
Jim Springer loved math and construction, but was inherently bad at math. He had a puppy named Toy and married a woman named Linda. He and Linda divorced and Jim married a woman named Betty a few years later. He had a son named James Alan Springer, worked as a policeman, drove only Chevrolets and was a chain smoker.
Jim and Jim are identical twins, and the brothers are one of the most well-known examples in the field of studies dealing with the effects of environment and upbringing on heredity.
How cool is that?
The namesakes first met in 1979 and it turns out they grew up just 70 kilometers apart.
The two adoptive mothers of the twins knew that their son was the second of identical twins. Springer’s mother actually believed the other twin had died, or shortly after birth, but Lewis’ mother knew better.
As Lewis’ mother began to process the adoption papers, she overheard a conversation in which an employee of the judge’s office mentioned “how funny it was that the other twin had also been named James.”
She never forgot that and when her son was old enough she told him everything she knew.
However, Jim Lewis waited until he was 39 before deciding to investigate the matter further. He asked for his adoption papers and saw in black and white that his mother’s suspicions of a twin brother and namesake were true.
He picked up the phone and called the Springer family. Jim Springer turned out not to be home and asked Lewis for a message.
That same evening Lewis’ phone rang and a man named James Springer showed up and asked if there had been an attempt to reach him.
“I didn’t know what to say and I just lost my mind, was he maybe my brother?” Jim Lewis later said in an interview.
The twins met four days later and it turned out there were even more that bonded them. Both suffered from migraines from a young age, bit their nails, had the same favorite foods, hated the same foods, smoked the same brand of cigarettes, and not only did they go to the same vacation spot in Florida; they went to the exact same little stretch of beach there.
Academics have switched
The researchers were dying to hear about the twins and wanted to explore their similarities in more detail as much as possible. Jim and Jim have done their part to answer the big question of what shapes us, upbringing or heredity, or for some women a combination of both.
For two decades, from 1979 to 1999, the twins participated in a total of more than 170 studies covering mental, physical, psychological, subjective and psychological aspects.
Although they did not receive the same upbringing, the brothers turned out to be extremely similar in all areas. They were, in a word, unique.
But not quite.
Jim Lewis would later divorce Betty and marry a third time, a woman named Sandy. His brother was, of course, the accused.
Jim Springer, on the other hand, is, as far as we know, still married to his Betty.
But will an older lady named Sandy slip into his life? We never know.
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