12-31-25 - Twin w/Meningitis Dies And Twin Sister Keeps Illusions Alive For Grandparents Reminding John Of His Twin Lie - BO

Summary

Podcast Summary: Holmberg’s Morning Sickness — December 31, 2025

Episode Title: Twin w/Meningitis Dies And Twin Sister Keeps Illusions Alive For Grandparents Reminding John Of His Twin Lie
Hosts: John Holmberg, Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, Dick Toledo
Podcast: Holmberg’s Morning Sickness — 98 KUPD, Arizona
Date: December 31, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Holmberg’s Morning Sickness revolves around a real-life story of a woman maintaining the illusion that her deceased twin is still alive for her grandparents. The hosts discuss the ethics, logistics, and emotional oddities of maintaining such a ruse. The story prompts the crew to share their own experiences of “twin” lies, jokes, and high school hijinks. The tone is irreverent, personal, and peppered with reflections on the foibles of youth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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The Twin Ruse: Fooling Grandparents

[01:07 – 04:26] John Holmberg shares the story

• John describes reading about a family with twin daughters where one died from meningitis, but the surviving twin continues pretending to be both for the sake of their elderly grandparents.
• The family supplies an extra set of clothes to facilitate the ruse; the living twin rotates outfits and personalities so the grandparents believe both are still alive.
• The deception lasts for two years. On the grandmother’s deathbed, they finally confess. Grandma, confused and weak, asks, “Why now? Why tell me now? Why confuse me now?” ([01:53] John)
• The family still hasn’t told Grandpa, keeping the ruse alive.

“They bring an extra set of clothes for the living one. ... She goes in and out of the house as both of them. ... Finally, grandma died and they broke the news to her on her deathbed.” — John ([01:17])

Humorous Aside:

• John jokes about hiring a lookalike: “You could have rented one, go over to Mekong and say, ‘You come with me and pretend to be this girl’s sister.’” ([01:45])

Gifts Angle & Twin Experience:

• The hosts joke that being a twin doesn’t double the presents, just the redundancy—“Twins have the worst grandparent gifts ever because they get two of the same thing.” ([02:44])
• Speculation about inheritance: what happens if the grandparents have a trust for both twins? “Gotta straighten that out…” ([03:23])

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Personal Twin Deceptions & High School Stories

[04:26 – 16:21]

• Brady’s Twin Prank [04:26]: Brady tells how he was fooled by a kid pretending to be twins—Jason and “Chuck.”

  “This family had two sisters and two other brothers. ... The youngest one comes down. I meet him the first time. My name's Jason. ... Then he comes down a little bit later and it’s like, oh no, I'm Chuck. ... but it was just only Jason.” — Brady ([04:30])

  • The family played along for a week; Brady was the naïve “mark.”
  • “They chose you as a mark for no reason and for a week, they were having the time of their lives.” — John ([05:10])
  • They joke about how easy it is to prank someone when there’s little interaction with siblings: “This guy never asks a question about anything. He just played with you, huh?” — John ([07:11])

• John’s Fake Twin Dodge [07:23]:

  • John confesses to pretending to be a cousin (or twin) to avoid an awkward prom invitation (the “Morp,” a backwards Sadie Hawkins dance).
  • A girl asks him out by proxy; he claims to be “Dennis,” his own cousin, when she arrives at his house.
  • He gets caught in the lie because he’s wearing the same clothes he had on earlier while hanging out with her. “My cousin Dennis. We’re practically twins. Everybody thinks so. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard…” ([10:54])
  • The story highlights John’s insecurity upon learning the girl had significantly more sexual experience: “She told me she’d had sex thousands of times and it scared me away…” ([11:39])

“She goes, why’d you do that? ... That was you. I'm like, no, no, my cousin, Dennis. And I look exactly…” — John ([10:54])

• Outfits & Awkwardness:
  • The crew has fun describing John’s questionable 80s fashion: a Seattle Seahawks half mesh shirt, sweatpants, and knee-high socks. “I dressed like a retarded boy who had just wet himself.” — John ([12:53])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the deception’s end:

  “Finally grandma died and they broke the news to her on her deathbed, came in and said, ‘By the way, we’ve been fooling you guys for like 24 months. The other one’s been dead for two years. I’ve been playing both roles.’ And grandma’s like taking her last breath. ‘Why now? Why tell me now? Why confuse me now?’” — John ([01:53])

• On twin gift woes:

  “Twins have the worst grandparent gifts ever because they get two of the same thing. ... It’s not like she’s getting double presents. She’s getting two T-shirts that say ‘lucky me’ or whatever.” — John ([02:44])

• On being a prank victim:

  “They chose you as a mark for no reason and for a week, they were having the time of their lives.” — John ([05:10])

• On dodging the Morp date:

  “You think I’m John. … I don’t know. I’m his cousin Dennis. We look quite a bit alike.” — John ([10:33])

• On fashion regrets:

  “I dressed like a retarded boy who had just wet himself and they gave me some extra clothes. Here, put these on and go home and tell your mother what happened.” — John ([12:53])

• Heartfelt moment (with a snarky twist):

  “I truly enjoy spending time with you and it reaffirms how proud I am of the person you’ve become … Especially happy that you’re not gay. Throw away that half shirt. Love, your dad.” — John (reading his father’s text) ([13:51])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:07 | Start of twin meningitis/dead twin ruse story | | 01:53 | The reveal to the dying grandmother, “Why now?” story | | 02:44 | Twins and their doubled-up grandparent gifts | | 03:23 | Grandparents, trust, and inheritance concerns | | 04:26 | Brady recounts being pranked by a “twin” in grade school | | 07:23 | John’s own experience faking a cousin to dodge a dance invitation | | 10:54 | John continues the “Dennis” lie, gets caught by the girl | | 12:53 | John's self-deprecating style critique after getting caught | | 13:51 | John reads his dad’s funny, sentimental text message |

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

In classic Holmberg’s Morning Sickness style, the show finds humor in awkward real-life situations, blending dark comedy, nostalgia, and self-deprecation. The oddity of hiding a child’s death for the grandparents’ sake becomes a springboard for the hosts to reflect on their own absurd moments involving twins, pranks, and youthful insecurities.

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For listeners: Even if you missed the episode, this summary captures the memorable stories, banter, and the show’s irreverent approach to family, youth, and unintended consequences.

Transcript

[A]

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[D]

The best of Homburg's morning sickness. I'm Maddie Akupd. I saw a thing this weekend about an Asian girl. Let's talk about Christmas. Crazy grandma and grandpa are, you know, getting up there and the family had these twin girls and one of the twins died of meningitis two years ago. And they won't tell the grandparents, so they bring an extra set of clothes for the the living one. And they haven't gone like she goes in and out of the house as both of them. Wow. Because they don't run. They don't want to. Yeah. They don't want to break the news to grandma and grandpa about, you know, which. And the grandparents can't tell, not because they're Asian, because they're twins, Brett. But, you know, I mean, you could see the difference. You could have just gone to Mace evidently and hired another one and said, come with me. Your name is Quan Lee. For a couple of minutes, you get a fool. Some old people, if they're that easy to fool, you could have gotten, you could have rented one, go over to Mekong and say, you come with me and pretend to be this Girl's sister because the grandparents didn't know. But they've done it for a couple years. So finally grandma died and they broke the news to her on her deathbed, came in and said, by the way, we've been fooling you guys for like 24 months. The other one's been dead for two years. I've been playing both roles and grandma's like taking her last breath. Why now? Why tell me now? Why confused me now, but won't tell grandpa. Gonna keep the ruse alive for a little while longer. And she's all ashamed of it, but she's still like her parents think that's the best thing.

[E]

Kids loving it. Double down on present.

[D]

Well, she's like 30.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Not doubling down on grandparents, presents, gifts. Probably sucks for her because twins have the worst the grandparent gifts ever because they get two of the same thing. It's not like she's getting double presents. She's getting two T shirts that say, you know, lucky me or whatever. I don't know.

[E]

Yeah, but they stop.

[D]

Grandpa'S babies. Yeah, I know, but they don't stop that ever. Grandparents, they always treat you like you're six if you got twins. And your grandparents, the cruddy double sweater buy is always because they're not shopping. They don't want to go out and individ your twins. That too will do.

[E]

The only interesting thing that would happen, it sounds like it's not if the grandparents, you know, had a. Necessitate whatever a trust or leaving money to the one twin. Yeah, they gotta straighten that out.

[D]

Ah, it all just transfers over. They're not gonna notice. You go into the game, double down, let that girl have both.

[E]

They'll just do it to the court.

[D]

It's easy. And there was a bunch of like comments on the end of people who are doing similar things. They took down all the pictures of the twins in their house. So they didn't get a. I guess they didn't look exactly alike. Although to me they did. But they. The one twin was a little bit different. And they took down all the pictures. Not to remind grandma and grandpa that that was a thing. And it fooled them like they never. They had no idea. But you just. You bring up another sweater and she'd have to come in and pretend to be her sister while grandma was, you know, doing stuff and couldn't get them in the same room at the same time. Grandma and grandpa never asked how come you guys don't come in here together? Because one's real busy and the other they Just took over spaces. I thought it was pretty cool.

[E]

I got duped for a week by.

[D]

Asian twins in high school.

[E]

No, they weren't Asian twins, but this family, my buddy had four other kids. This family had two sisters and two other brothers. And the youngest one comes down. I meet him the first time. My name's Jason. Good to meet you. You know, at the time, he's probably like, at first, fifth grade or whatever. Then he comes down a little bit later and it's like, oh, no, I'm Chuck. They're Chuck and Jason. They're twins, but it was just only Jason.

[D]

Oh, you've been fooled by twins, everybody?

[E]

Yeah, they were saying that.

[D]

Yeah. Were they real, though? He wasn't a real twin.

[B]

No.

[E]

Oh, he was just Jay.

[D]

It was just Jason the whole time. Saw you as a mark, and the.

[E]

Whole family was in on him.

[D]

Just a. Yeah.

[E]

Oh, Chuck's not here, bro. You know, just to. Yes you.

[D]

Yeah. They chose you as a mark for no reason and for a week, they were having the time of their lives. Oh, yeah? Who told you?

[E]

Hey, where's Chuck?

[D]

And you're asking to play with him and stuff?

[E]

No, I'm the older brother I'd play with. But then it's like, which one are you, Jason or Chuck?

[D]

They're just. Ah, that moron. Hey, let's get that Bogan kid thinking we're triplets. Oh, yeah. We haven't met the other one. This is Ronnie. Oh, good Lord. How many people live here? A lot. You're gonna meet them all eventually. Well, that's weird. Were you pissed at the end?

[E]

No, they.

[D]

I mean, they.

[E]

Well, they knew I would joke around and stuff.

[D]

About being multiple.

[E]

No, but they thought this would be a funny. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[D]

They were dicking with you.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

For no reason. It's a good one. No, that's mean. I would never go over there again. I'd be like, those people think nothing of me. I told him, go. I would, too. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, you guys can go yourselves. Why'd you do that to me? For sure. Easy, Rube. You jackass. Like. Oh, that's basically what they're saying, pretty much. Like, this idiot, let's try to make him. That's the only time I ever.

[E]

But you know how. I mean, it would be really easy. It's not like you're hanging out with the other family, you know, the siblings too much.

[D]

But if they're all in one over.

[E]

There once or twice still, I don't think they're hanging out with a guy. I'm like, oh, that's your brother? Yeah, he's got a twin. Oh, okay.

[D]

And then they're all like, I told the idiot we have a twin, so let's play pretend we do and watch his stupid face. Yeah, you were being made fun of. Oh, yeah, being stomped. And you still hung out with them after? Yeah, man, I wouldn't. It's not just because that. That's how they introduced themselves. Yeah, I'm pretty much out on that. I'm the. I'm the town jackass. You need to go back to their house and go, hey, guys, remember that whole Chuck Jason thing? What the were you thinking? Hang on, Freddie. Let me. Let me ask my. My wife. In fact, I have multiple wives. Hold on just a second. They're all twins. The idiot's back. Here comes Warren Jeffs.

[E]

They have five sets of twins.

[D]

Like having you, Josh, and me. Oh, speaking of Josh, here. Josh, my twin brother.

[A]

I'll be.

[D]

I'll be right back. He wears a cape. That's how you'll know the difference. Josh has a cape. Jeff doesn't have a king. Got it. There's a little like 45 people living in this house. Hold on a second. We get my other sister, Melissa. This guy never asks a question about anything. He just played with you, huh? I pretended to be a twin once when a girl like, I didn't know. Well, again, it was intimidation. I liked her. She was very sweet in high school. And then she. She told me that she was. I think she was like 16. I had recently just had sex for the first time. Not with her, but feeling pretty good about myself. Lost the. Lost the card. Felt pretty good. Got that out, you know, that monkey off my back, so to speak. And then so she and I start hanging out together. And she asked me, she goes, have you done it? Yeah, I have, actually. I'm a man of the world. And she goes, my ex boyfriend and I used to do it all the time. And I'm like, oh. Because I had only done it like twice. So I'm like, still. I'm a neophyte. Merry effing holidays from the big red radio.

[C]

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[F]

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[D]

And so she's like, she's like, yeah, we do a lot. I'm like, how many times do you think you've done it? And she asked me, she goes, what about you? And I'm like, two. And then she said, oh, thousands, but. And it scared me away. So a couple nights later, there's a knock on my door. There's a girl there with flowers. I. I recognized her, but I didn't know her. She's got flowers and balloons and she said, jennifer would like to cordially invite you to Morp, which was our Sadie Hawkins prom backwards. So she's like, would you like to go to Morp with her? And I'm standing there, I'm like, oh, you think I'm John? She goes, what? I'm like, I don't know. I'm his cousin Dennis. We look quite a bit alike. I'll take these and give them to him though. And so she's like, huh? Because I think me and this girl had a couple classes together. I didn't know her very well. Like, yeah, she a beast or something or what? No, no, Jennifer was nice. Her friend that she sent up. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, I know. She was okay.

[F]

Oh, all right.

[D]

She's a Middle Eastern or something.

[A]

I could have been number three.

[D]

What are you doing? Hey, while you're here though, why don't you give Dennis a run for your money? So I take the flowers and I take the thing and I'm like, I'll have him call you. And then the phone rings like 10 minutes later and she's sobbing and she goes, why did you do that? What are you talking about? She goes, I saw you. I was in the car. That was you? I'm like, no, no, my cousin, my cousin Dennis. And I look exactly.

[E]

You went all in.

[D]

Well, I totally dug my heels in on this lie. Oh, there you go.

[A]

You're Brady and you're well.

[D]

And you know what? What? Unlike Brady, she was not stupid enough to believe it. So she goes, and this was my core mistake was earlier that day we hung out and I was still in the same clothes. What a dumbass. So in the doorway, I'm standing there in the exact same thing I wore while I hung out with her that afternoon. Come on. I know. Like, Dennis and I just swapped out the same outfit. And he answers the door. She goes, I watched you. I learned. Why would you do that to me? Like, it wasn't to you. It was my. My cousin Dennis. We're practically twins. Everybody thinks so. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. If you didn't want to go, all you have to say is no. And I'm like, I'm not going to say no to anyone. I just had to go. But our family's poor.

[E]

We share clothes.

[D]

And it was. It wasn't like I didn't like her. I did. I was just intimidated by the fact that she was so well rounded in the bedroom and I was gonna. I needed. I needed to slow down for a second, take a breath. She had just hit me earlier that day with the thousands of times. Having sex, which, you know, as you age, you're like, that's a good thing.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

So she saw you in the hammer pants. La gears.

[D]

I'll tell you what I was wearing. I know exactly what I had on, too. I had for no reason at all. Someone gave me a Seattle Seahawks warm up. Half shirt. Oh, Jesus. You know the ones you remember, the old college ones had holes in them and they weren't like the mesh. It was mesh, but it was. Yeah, it was heavy mesh. Like you could see through it. No, not at all. It was like chain mail. Yeah. And then. But it had a number on it. I don't even know whose it was. And it just said Seahawks across the top.

[E]

Oh, Seahawks are sonic.

[D]

Seahawks. Seattle Seahawks. I don't know why, but somebody gave me that and I liked it. Half shirt.

[E]

Larger.

[D]

Then I had a pair of. Of sweatpants. It wasn't a Steve Largent, though. That would have been a good one. I had a. I think it was Jim Zorn, actually.

[E]

That could be.

[D]

He was long gone, too. Anyway, a pair of shorts and again, just like socks pulled up to my knees because I went with that for a while with. Even into my teen years.

[A]

Christ, you should be grateful. She asked.

[D]

I was dressed like he panicked. I dressed like a retarded boy who had just wet himself. And they gave me some extra clothes. Here, put these on and go home and tell your mother what happened.

[E]

Wow. Chuck would never do that.

[D]

I tried, but I wasn't wearing the shorts and the socks when we hung out that day, that I had changed into that. So I still had to see the half shirt on. I had the half Seattle Seahawks shirt on. It's a great idea. He's nice out. I'm sure that's what Dan was thinking, too. I remember the half shirt on. I remember when Morp was. It was in spring, but it was nice weather. Oh, Dan hated the half shirts. Jesus. My dad and I went to dinner on Thursday and then he wrote me a nice note, said he's all proud of me and stuff. Like, it was a nice little text I got this weekend from dad and I'll even read it to you. And it says, oh, where is it? I got a lot of text yesterday from all the people who were, I bet, Steelers fans and otherwise.

[E]

The battle for Pennsylvania.

[D]

It says it was very nice. It says, just got home, he's in Texas. Said, want to thank you for a very enjoyable dinner. I truly enjoy spending time with you and it reaffirms how proud I am of the person you've become and makes me happy that you're my son. Especially happy that you're not gay. Throw away that half shirt. Love your dad. And I'm like, oh, that's nice. Thank you. That's very sweet. I appreciate that, dad. Yeah, the half shirt was a dead giveaway. And she called and she was. I felt terrible because she was so pretty. Oh, no, it was. That was, I think maybe the last.

[E]

Time she talked, but, like, Morp was off the table after.

[D]

Did you even go, no, I never went to a Morp. I had two opportunities. I blew them both. Oh, and then same girl on that Monday, because this was like a Friday or Saturday night. On Monday she's on Bruce Kelly's show on KZZP. She won $10,000. Oh, boy. And tells me, I did talk to her after. Tells me, are you sure? Because I felt like an idiot. She goes, I'll spend it all. I know I was scared of the wardrobe. I know she could have gotten me all new half shirts. How many hatchers would 10 grand buy in 1988? That would have been amazing. I could have been swimming in halfsies. A mesh jersey for every team, 10 grand.

[E]

And Howard Jones playing in her backyard.

[D]

That was a different girl. But yeah, we had Howard Jones at another girl. She didn't like me. That was Shauna Ferguson. She was dating a friend of mine. That was a neat day too. Howard Stern stood under that. Howard Stern. Howard Jones stood under that tree singing his songs for dying. It was amazing how many Dobson kids were winning KCZP prizes. She won ten grand on the radio. And I heard it that on Monday morning, I'm like, oh, that girl just asked me to backwards prom. She's having the greatest week of her life. She wants to include me. And I'm like, nope, you're a. But she doesn't see what happened too. Thought. I thought she was A. And I was worried. My dad had me scared of sluts.

[E]

It all went to the center.

[D]

She didn't bang Zellner. I'm sure she thought about it, because who didn't? Zellner was graduated by then. She was two years younger than me. She wasn't familiar with the dz. I banged down Gully, then Gully probably got on it. Don't worry about it, baby. I got you. I'll take your money from the radio station in those dumb balloons. And Gully wore a lot of half shirts. I think I kind of modeled myself a little bit after Gully.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Let me pack some Marlboros. Because she bought him. She could have gotten a new machine for the smoking section.

[E]

The one sleeve longer than the other, stretched out.

[D]

That's the only time I tried to be a twin, and it backfired. These Asians been doing it to their grandparents for two years. This girl knew me from Adam. Spotted me the second I said it. And I don't know why. I don't know why I thought I was quick on my feet too, because I remembered the door shutting going, dodged that bullet. Like, I don't know what to do now. I was so taken aback by the fact that she said she'd had sex thousands of times and it was just with one guy. She was actually really probably quality girlfriend is all that me. And then they had just broken up. And so in my head, I thought, ah, this is gonna get ugly. And F that one up. I effed that one up. Yeah, I could go back. I look, I turn out to be anything, you know, I don't know. She had some sort of operation. I remember that wasn't a bad one. But she had to leave for a little while. Oh, okay. It wasn't like she became. No, no, no. She's in transition. Okay.

[E]

Yeah. That just sounds Hey, I don't know.

[D]

She didn't transition.

[E]

She had to leave for a while on this operation.

[D]

If Dua leap asked me to transition, I'd do it.

[E]

No.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

She knows you look good in half shirts. So I thought about it last night when I'm watching, I'm like, what could she do that would make me say no? And it's like. And I got myself all the way up to transitioning and I'm like, that's what she wanted. I don't know if I'd lop it off, but I'd definitely go through the hormone treatments and grow some cancer. I'm in on that. Either way, it's an interesting weekend all the way around. Strange and glorious and a little depressing. Little disappointing. Sorry. Arizona's most powerful, powerful rock radio station.

[E]

Update para mi familia siemprestoy en mi.

[D]

Mejor momento porreso tambien quiero mejor en.

[E]

Mi cocina Y eso significas.

[D]

Mejor sabor mejor nutricion mejores huevos.