50 years later, twins celebrate anniversaries together

Joe and Sally Kirkland of Wasilla celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 30, and so did Robert and Susan Copper of Oregon. Two couples sharing an anniversary date isn't uncommon.

Sally and Susan are twins, however, making the celebration twice as nice for the close-knit family.

The Kirklands and the Coppers were both married on Aug. 30, 1953 in Oregon. Joe and Sally were high school sweethearts, as were Robert and Susan. After both sisters were engaged, the couples decided on the double wedding.

"We thought, 'wouldn't it be great to do a double wedding?'" said Joe Kirkland. "The girls' parents were fine with it."

The couples went on separate honeymoons, but twins think alike.

"The one morning we were at a motel in Victoria (British Columbia) and we got a knock on the door and it was Susan," Joe Kirkland said. "They were in the room next to us and we never even knew it or planned it."

This time, they are planning it, however. The Kirklands left Friday for Oregon, for the celebration that was planned for Saturday.

For the next 10 days, they are retracing their honeymoon -- this time, however, it is planned, unlike it was 50 years ago.

"We're going to visit some of the places where we went 50 years, and places where we both were," Joe Kirkland said.

David Kirkland, the son of Joe and Sally, said the honeymoon coincidence was the first of many his mother and aunt share as twins, a bond that those who are not twins don't, and can't, understand.

"Three times they have gotten each other the same birthday or anniversary card on the same day," David Kirkland said. "And one year, they both went to J.C. Penney and bought each other the same tea pots as gifts.

"They were twin homecoming queens, too," David Kirkland said.

The Kirklands moved to Alaska about 25 years ago, and the bond with Alaska has proven just as strong as the bond between twin sisters.

"We came up here for adventure and there's no place like it. It's our home," Joe Kirkland said.