Returning to Morristown in 1989, Donna
worked at various salons and until she decided to open her own shop in
September 1994. She is the somewhat more adventurous twin.
"I called Darla, who was employed at
Shelby Williams and said, 'Darla, can you get me some chairs...'"
The twins had always wanted to work
together and Darla knew instantly what was about to transpire.
Darla was the first born arriving
approximately 10 minutes prior to Donna.
Darla said, "I have always been a nail
person--we both have--for years and years. When Donna called me and
asked about the chairs...I knew what she was going to do and I
enrolled in school the following week."
Darla continued to work at Shelby
Williams and trained as a nail technician in the evenings.
Upon completion in January 1995, she
became active in the business on a part-time basis.
Darla said, "When I rounded the corner
at Shelby Williams...something just told her, 'I have to do it
today.'"
Darla ended her 23-year tenure with
Shelby Williams and began a new career with Donna.
After just a few months, Donna said
business was slow and she considered giving up. "This business was not
handed to me. We put in many hours--we prayed a lot--and cried. I
almost gave it up in June of 1990. But we prayed and I knew this is
what I'm supposed to be doing."
The Nail Shoppe is now in its 10th year
of business and has been voted Morristown's Best three years in a row.
The small business was housed in a
360-square-foot building until 1995 and has since grown to a
1,300-square-foot full-service salon with seven professional
specialists for nails, facials, massage therapy, and hair care. The
shop also has gift baskets and gift certificates.
Donna said, "It's all rewarding...for
both of us. We have met some wonderful people and made many really
good friends. This is what we really love doing. I don't ever wake up
and think, 'I have to go to work.'"
Some identical twins are mirror twins.
They have mirror image fingerprints, one is right-handed the other
left-handed and the whorls in their hair go opposite directions.
Not only are Donna and Darla identical,
but they are also mirror twins, meaning they have polar features, such
as opposite hair whorl patterns, and Donna favors her left hand while
Darla favors her right. The twins wear the same clothes, nail polish,
eyeglasses, and wristwatches.
"Our mother had to tie colored ribbons
around our wrist when we were babies to keep us apart so she would
know which was which. As she bathed one child she placed new ribbon on
before picking up the other," Donna said.
Darla and Donna are human duplicates,
sometimes even they're hard-pressed to say for certain who's who in
old photographs.
"All our old photos are much more alike
than ones taken today," Donna said.
"Everybody asks, 'What's it like to be a
twin?' and that's a hard one, because this is all we know," Darla
said.
"We just say, 'It's like having the very
best friend you could ever imagine, it's unconditional love,'" they
said.
Donna and Darla have spent 50 years
together and celebrate their twin-ness every day.
"We think alike, even when we are not
together," said Donna. "It is like we have the same mind--just split
in two, and these two halves are walking around in two different
places. Often we say things in stereo. Darla can start a sentence and
I can pick it up in the middle--it will be word for word what she was
talking about," Donna said.
They are lifelong Morristown residents
and attended Morristown schools.
They said they are thankful for the
community support, clients, family--and most of all God.
Donna and Darla have two sisters, Joyce
Lane of Morristown and Lisa Huber of Knoxville. Their mother, Clara
Johnson, resides in Morristown.
