The Perplexing Pollacks Problem

In the quaint town of Hexham, England, back in May 1957, tragedy struck as 11-year-old Joanna Pollock and her 6-year-old sister Jacqueline, along with their 9-year-old friend Anthony, were fatally hit by a reckless driver on their way to church.

The driver, a local woman influenced by drugs, purposefully targeted the children following a distressing event involving her own kids. This shocking incident captured national attention, leading to the woman’s confinement in a psychiatric facility.

Devastated by their daughters’ untimely deaths, John and Florence Pollock, devout Catholics, found themselves at odds over John’s unwavering belief that the girls would return as twins.

Despite odds and skepticism, on October 4, 1958, Florence gave birth to twin girls named Gillian and Jennifer. Remarkably, these identical twins bore distinct birthmarks, with Jennifer’s on her left hip resembling Jacqueline’s, and another on her forehead akin to a scar Jacqueline once had.At three months old, the twins’ family moved to Whitley Bay, situated east of Hexham.

As the girls grew, an uncanny familiarity with Hexham emerged within Gillian and Jennifer, despite never having lived in the quaint town. Upon the family’s return to Hexham when the twins turned four, they astounded everyone by pointing out and naming landmarks they had never seen before. From the school Joanna and Jacqueline once attended to the Hexham Abbey and even a playground cherished by their late siblings, the twins navigated with confidence as if guided by a haunting memory.

Moreover, the twins exhibited an eerie knowledge of their late sisters’ toys. Despite being stashed away by Florence, the twins requested specific toys that seemed to resonate with their own memories. With precision, they identified each toy by its given name, sorting them exactly as their sisters had done and recalling their origin from Santa Claus, a detail aligned with reality. Florence and John couldn’t help but notice the striking similarities in personality between their living daughters and the departed sisters.

While Joanna displayed a protective nature toward her younger sibling Jacqueline, Gillian portrayed a maturity beyond her years, reminiscent of Joanna’s nurturing demeanor. Gillian, the elder twin born just ten minutes before Jennifer, naturally assumed a caretaker role, mirroring Joanna’s relationship with Jacqueline. The twins’ shared preferences extended to games and cuisine, further blurring the line between their own identities and those of their predecessors.

Initially skeptical, Florence resisted John’s notion that the twins embodied a form of reincarnation for the early years of their lives.After stumbling upon the twins discussing the car accident, her perspective took an intriguing turn.

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SOURCE: “The Perplexing Pollocks Problem” by Jessica Staveley for Mama Mia: https://tinyurl.com/2d85hkuv