Jack and Jake Morrow have a lot of similarities.
They were both born on Feb. 13 in Abilene, Texas. They are the grandsons of Penny Morrow who works in the Wylie High School cafeteria. They play on the same soccer team and go to the same preschool. And they are both starting kindergarten later this month.
But they are not twins. They aren’t even brothers.
They are cousins.
Let the confusion begin for Wylie teachers, administrators and the other Wylie soon-to-be kindergartners.
It’s a confusion their parents have experienced since the boys were born five years ago just hours apart on the same day in separate Abilene hospitals to brothers C.J. and Johnny Morrow.
Not long after C.J.’s wife, Johanna, a Wylie Junior High teacher, gave birth to Jack at Hendrick Medical Center, Johnny and his wife, Jessica, a former Wylie High teacher, gave birth to Jake at Abilene Regional Medical Center.
“It’s the names Jake and Jack that make it confusing,” Jessica said.
The couples did not intend to name their children like twins, it just kind of happened. Johnny and Jessica had Jake picked out before they even knew they were having a boy because it was a family name. CJ and Johanna, who also were looking for a name with family ties, didn’t settle on Jack until after he was born.
They didn’t realize until later the confusion that would follow. That confusion, however, is about the only drawback of the situation. Otherwise, it’s been great.
The boys are well aware that they are born on the same day.
“We tell them all the time,” Jessica said. “They love it. It’s fun.”
The boys have grown up together, but they have not had dual birthday parties.
“The boys have different interests, so we would do one on a Sunday and one on a Saturday,” Johanna said.
“That way it’s special for each one,” Jessica agreed.
The boys also have their differences. Jake is taller with dark hair, and Jack is smaller with blonder hair.
“They look enough alike to know they are related because they have enough of their dads in them,” Johanna said.
The boys also are having slightly different reactions to the first day of kindergarten.
“Jake is super excited,” Jessica said. “He gets to be a Wylie Bulldog.”
“Jack is a little more apprehensive,” Johanna said. “He’s been at home with my mom or at Aldersgate. He’s apprehensive but he is good at adjusting.”
To keep the kindergarten confusion to a minimum, Johanna reached out to Early Childhood Principal Lisa Salmon.
“I emailed Mrs. Salmon letting her know they were coming,” she said. “I was like they are not brothers. They are cousins. They are two separate people. As a teacher, I know that can get confusing. I put their middle names in there to differentiate.”
Kindergarten will be just another thing the two cousins get to do together. Their families are close as are the two boys.
“They are like brothers sometimes,” Jessica said. “They fight like brothers. They love like brothers. They love each other.”