BLUFFTON — Jan. 1 is a special day for Bluffton resident Mary Lou Howe and her family.
While the holiday is celebrated worldwide as the start of a new year, the date carries a greater sense of significance for Howe. On New Year’s Day in the early 1940s, Howe had her first date with the man who would become her husband, John Howe. More than 10 years later on Jan. 1, 1957, Howe gave birth to a set of twins, Garry and Jerry.
According to the family, the Howe brothers were the first set of twins born in the United States that year. For this distinction, the Howes were given free diaper service for a year, as well as numerous food and clothing donations from local businesses.
Mary Lou Howe said she initially had no idea she would give birth to a set of twins. It wasn’t until the delivery date when her doctor advised that she would be having not one, but two babies.
“They told me I was gonna have one big, breached baby,” Howe said. “Then it turned out to be twins because one was piggybacking the other.
“I thought my husband was gonna pass out.”
Jerry Howe was born seven minutes ahead of his brother. His mother said she remembers her first-born twin entering the world “hind-end first.”
Despite being fraternal twins, the Howe brothers are quite different. Jerry Howe said he was the extrovert and his brother was more of an introvert. Jerry Howe also enjoyed playing sports, while Garry Howe was into music. When Jerry Howe was off playing varsity basketball, Garry Howe was playing gigs as a drummer in a band.
“I remember playing in the sandbox by myself, and him and the neighbor kids would be playing football,” Garry Howe said. “Jerry would always come and drag me out of the sandbox to play sports.
“He was super into sports, and I was super not into sports.”
The twins’ physical attributes are also polar opposite. Jerry Howe is 6 foot 4 and Garry Howe is 5 foot 9. However, Garry Howe can claim to be the faster of the two.
“He had to be to get away from me,” Jerry Howe said with a laugh, adding that he used to bully his brother when they were growing up.
“I would try to get back at him,” Garry Howe said. “One time he made me mad so I took a rope and cracked him. He started bawling so then I started bawling because I really didn’t mean to hurt him. Sometimes our horsing around turned into a little more than.”
Despite their brotherly bickering and dissimilar personalities, the Howe twins remained close throughout their lives.
“We were always inseparable,” Jerry Howe said. “We did pretty much everything together.”
They remember taking trips to Indian Lake, where their parents had a trailer. In high school, they pulled their money together to purchase a 1964 Chevrolet van that would serve as the basis of their “van club.” They said they’d get together with other van owners around their age and cruise around.
The Howe twins said they remain close to this day.
“We live just a few minutes away from one another here in Bluffton,” Jerry Howe said. “We talk just about every day, so we’re still close. We still have that strong twin bond.”
This New Year’s Day marks the twins’ 60th birthday. Looking back, the elder Howe said he feels it’s unique to have a birthday on the holiday.
“It’s nice thinking that everyone celebrates our birthday,” Jerry Howe said.
The day is perhaps even more special for their mother, as New Year’s marks a point in time that altered her life forever.
“New Year’s Day means a lot to me,” Mary Lou Howe said. “I have a lot of great memories.”
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