STATE COLLEGE- For many, building a strong connection with someone can take years. For twins Tom and Victor Franch, their bond has been inseparable since birth.
“I know him inside and out. I know everything about him and he knows everything about me,” Victor said.
The twins, both juniors at State College High School, moved to the State College area from Dallas, Texas when they were just four years old with their mother Chrissy. Tom and Victor travel back to Texas every summer to visit their father. It’s challenging, but it’s something Tom believes brings him and brother closer together.
Sports is another activity that bonds the two brothers. Tom and Victor play Lacrosse together on State College High School’s Varsity team. It’s a sport they learned how to play just two years ago as freshmen.
“Tom and I would string (lacrosse sticks) together and we learned off of one another, which was a great benefit,” Victor said.
Growing up, the twins hung around with the same group of friends outside of school. At school, however, they each developed their own group of friends. Victor attributed that to the fact that they have different social personalities.
“He’s more of the hang around your friends kind of guy and I’m more geared towards focusing on sports and school,” Victor said. “Growing up, they’d always associate me in middle school as ‘oh that’s Tom’s twin!’”
Even though their bond is strong, they still disagree on some things.
“It’s not like we’re perfect. We fight. We’re twins. We’re brothers,” Tom said.
But if one thing is for certain, it’s that no matter where life takes them, they will always have each other.
“We’ll always be connected, we’ll always be talking. I’ve never been away from that guy for that long in the sixteen years I’ve been alive and that will probably change because we’ll be in different places, but we’ll always be in touch,” Tom said.
When asked what his favorite thing about his brother was, Victor was quick to answer.
“The connection we have. We were born at the same time, and we just grew one of the greatest connections that I’ve ever experienced, if not the best.”
That inseparable bond that was formed at birth has only strengthened in time.
“I can just read his facial expressions or read his body motions, and even if he’s smiling I know when it’s fake, because I know what his real smile is like,” Victor said.
And Tom?
“Just looking at him I know when he’s mad, and I know when he’s sad or happy. I can look at him and know what he’s feeling pretty much by his facial expressions; I just somehow know his emotions.”
A bond created at birth, strengthened in time, and continuously growing -because two brothers will always have each other’s backs.
Victor Franch Tom Franch