This school year, the Brookfield Central Chamber Choir is home to three different sets of cousins. These singers include Natalie (‘16) and Allison (‘16) Hartwig, Ben (‘18) and Henning (‘18) Mahn, and Lizzie Peterson (‘18) and Thomas Kindler (‘16). Tyro had the opportunity to interview two sets of these cousins: the Hartwigs and the Mahns. The following article is based on the interview with the Hartwigs.
Out of the three sets of cousins, Natalie Hartwig (‘16) and Allison Hartwig (16’) are definitely the pair most likely to be mistaken as twins. “When we were little, around elementary school and middle school, we would wear the same clothes and go to the mall and see how many people we could trick into thinking we were twins,” said Natalie.
However, no matching clothes are required for these two to still be easily confused. “A lot of people, when they first meet us, think that we’re sisters and get us mixed up. It’s not uncommon for people to call us by the opposite names, it actually happened just yesterday,” Allison said.
“We had a class together once where our teacher mixed up our grades. It was just a quiz, and the scores weren’t too different from each other anyway, but it was funny,” Natalie added.
They both agree that they would have still been friends if they weren’t related. “We’re very similar- we had a lot of classes together in 8th grade, so I think we would’ve met then,” said Natalie. They think they’ll stay close in college as well. “When we were in middle school, we would always say that when we’re in college we’d have an apartment together and it would be so cute,” said Allison.
The two also don’t feel competitive with each other at all. “I hate competition!” said Allison. “We’re very supportive. Go team!” Natalie then summed up their relationship by saying, “She’s the best cousin ever!”