Three of a kind
Local triplets turning 70 offer life advice, reflect on sisterhood
Future parents of multiples, the triplets once known as the Klerekopers have some advice for you. When choosing names, avoid puns and rhymes. This means no Tom, Dick and Harry, and skip the Anna, Lanna and Banna. And most importantly, remember each child is an individual.
Carrie Olsen, Emily Murphy and Anna “Midge” Patterson knew they each had their own birthday cake to look forward to every Jan. 25. Now, as the identical triplets celebrate their 70th birthday, they realize how their quest for individuality ultimately led to similar destinations.
“Initially, we wanted to be independent and carved our own paths, but they turned out to be sort of parallel,” said Olsen, the oldest of the three by six minutes. Olsen lives in Houston while Murphy lives close by in Kingwood, and Patterson resides in Port Orchard, Wash. The three were together in Houston on Saturday, ready to depart on a weeklong cruise out of Galveston. They typically do it up big for the “bigO birthdays.”
Dressed in matching salmon, blue and purple turtlenecks, jeans and pendant necklaces (for the interview, they clarified), they shared stories, family history and plans.
“I want to do another triathlon,” Olsen said.
“Well, you be my guest, tootsie, because Midge isn’t going to do it with you,” Patterson replied.
“I’ll kayak alongside of you,” Murphy added.
While Olsen had a career as a medical transcriber and later became a physician assistant in her 60s, today she’s a sculptor and competitive archer. Murphy retired as a senior research technologist and developed an infrared camera that can monitor facial nerve movement during brain surgery. Today, she kayaks and does photography. Patterson, a retired nurse whose sisters said “could get blood out of a stone,” makes handmade quilts. Some have raised funds for cystinosis, a rare genetic disorder her identical twin granddaughters
have.
Born in New York in 1946 to missionary parents, they moved to Iran at 9 months old and spent the first six years of their life living in Tabriz and Tehran. After that, the triplets, their older sister Martha and their parents came back to America, bouncing around from Albuquerque, N.M., to New Orleans before ultimately settling in Houston in 1960. They attended Jesse H. Jones High School and graduated in 1964.
“I was so tickled at Texas accents. Now I have one,” Murphy said.
“Growing up, three was not a good number. It was always two against one; we fought like cats and dogs. And it was never the same two,” Patterson said. “Until we got to high school ... not sure if it’s because we grew up finally or we realized we’re not going to have each other to fight with too much longer.”
Mistaken identity
As teenagers, the triplet novelty often wore thin. People would always ask them “where are your other two-thirds?” or mistake them for another sister. The three said they didn’t date much, that being “thin and geeky” and introduced as “the preacher’s triplets” served as a hindrance.
Once, Patterson reluctantly accepted a date from a guy who had persistently asked. When she finally agreed, he was forced to try to pick her out of a lineup of the triplets. He accidentally chose Carrie. The date was short, and he never asked Patterson out again.
“I have to say, I don’t know what she did to him,” Patterson said.
Often people refer to the unspoken connection of multiples — that they can almost read each others’ minds. That hasn’t been the case for these three, but once they got close. All three returned home for the summer from their different colleges to realize they had bought the exact same pair of earrings.
Siblings ‘for life’
Today, the three stay in touch with one another and their older sister with phone calls and regular Skype chats. This way, they can show one another the latest quilt they’re working on or discuss clothing choices for the weeklong cruise. And yes, they can still share clothes.
“One thing about siblings, of any kind, you have them for life,” Olsen said. “Make them your friends, because when you’re old and gray, they will be there.”
While the three have some plans for what they’d like to do as 70-year-olds, they’re open to new ideas. Whether it be a stint with Doctors Without Borders or more photography or sculpture work, all three offer the same advice: don’t lie down until you’re dead.
“The secret,” Olsen said, “is to keep moving. Do not stop moving, because when you when you quit moving, you start dying.”