Boy Visits His Twin To Tell Him About His First Day Of Kindergarten

Young boy doesn’t let the fact that his identical twin died in the womb prevent him from forging a bond with his brother

Sibling bonds are a special thing, and you don’t have to tell that to this nine-year-old who visits his deceased twin’s grave to tell him about his life, despite the fact that they’ve never even met.

Talk about brotherly love.

Walker Myrick’s identical twin brother died in the womb nine years ago, but that hasn’t stopped Walker from forming a meaningful bond with the sibling he was never able to meet.

A story on Good Housekeeping details the ways Walker stays close to his sibling, which include visiting his grave and telling him about what’s going on in his life.

On Walker’s fifth birthday, he asked his mom, Brooke, if they could visit his brother Willis’ grave. He wanted to tell his twin about his first day of kindergarten, one that Willis obviously would never get to have. Mom obliged, and even snapped a picture of Walker by his brother’s grave. Since then Walker continues to visit Willis on holidays and other special occasions.

Willis died from TTTS, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, a rare disease that afflicts twins who share a placenta in the womb. Brooke Myrick had never even heard of TTTS before her son passed away, something she is trying to change. “We were not screened for it, nor did our doctor refer us to a specialist or even know that my boys were identical and sharing a placenta,” she explained. “We fight for awareness because of the lack of knowledge that our doctor possessed about this disease.”

Anyone with siblings knows the relationship can be fraught. There’s an unbreakable bond, but there’s also often rivalry and competition and bitterness and frustration, sometimes due to the very nature of that bond. Walker and Willis will never get to experience that, and it must occasionally be bittersweet for their mom to witness just how much Walker loves his brother, even without having gotten to know him.

Hopefully her work bringing the disease that took Willis’s life to light will help prevent future tragedies, and allow other twins to experience the full range of emotions – both good and bad – that comes with having a sibling.

“Identical twins are known to carry a very strong connection and I believe it’s still there with my boys,” Myrick told Good Housekeeping. “Walker has a drive to make sure Willis is never forgotten.”