Oceans of Love 2

Gilbert Ruley Smith’s Oceans of Love 2 is an intriguing memoir of the author who fell in love and married one of a pair of identical twins. What happens when a man tries to separate two young women who were together in the womb and were each other’s best friend?

Gilbert fell for Ruth, the dominant twin, who was outgoing and confident. However, she was still so connected to Ann, her twin, that she always put her sister’s feelings ahead of her own. The author details many experiences, beginning with the time he and Ruth first met and how he learned to cope with things in his relationship with Ruth, Ann, and the rest of their family and how it impacted his life.

Gilbert writes, "There are many facets of my life and Ruth’s life that are an uncommon departure from the usual, and this is the incentive for writing this book."

"The story opens by describing Ruth’s life and parents and my life and parents in Baltimore before meeting her. In mid-adolescence, I become aware of a strong inner feeling that tells me that the right girl is waiting for me, and all I have to do is find her. I eventually find her and discover that she is a twin. I begin to date her and court her. Thus begins my education on the unusual world of twins and the difficulty of getting along with them. My relationship with Ruth rapidly develops into true love.

"Our love is tested when I am drafted into the Korean War. After the war, it takes a few years for our lives to settle down. We get married in 1957 and live with her twin sister and mother, so our married life cannot be described as normal. Ruth'’s twin sister gets married and also lives with us. Then, Ruth and I have two children. Our household is crowded! The story describes the many changes and adjustments necessary over the years to survive our unusual life, with emphasis on the enduring true love between Ruth and me. It is our enduring true love that enabled us to not only survive, but to lead a life of happiness that was far above and beyond normal."

-- Gilbert Smith