“It’s kind of like when there’s turbulence on the plane, and you see the flight attendants are still talking and walking around,” Adriana says. “When I start panicking, Ruby is sending me TikToks, and I’m like, ‘Oh, we’re OK. We’re in the same boat.’ It’s helpful to see someone else being confident, and it’s easy to follow in their footsteps.”
The Mathiasons don’t believe in twin telepathy but are known to finish each other’s sentences or simultaneously blurt out the same thing, and yes, I witnessed this firsthand. (If you’re wondering how to tell them apart, Adriana has the purple hair, nine piercings and sparrow tattoos, while Ruby is more of a clean slate.)
“They don’t really compete with each other, but push each other,” Brigette says. “Sometimes they’ll get frustrated, but it’s rare that they have a blowout fight. They generally want each other to succeed and have always been that way.”
The pride that her twins have in themselves and in each other is what makes Brigette tear up. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted, and that’s all that’s ever mattered to me,” she says.
Two kids with colorful face paint smile for the camera.
A photo of the Mathiason twins from the Minnesota State Fair when they were about 4. "My best guess is Adriana on the left and Ruby on the right, but I honestly have no idea," says mother Brigette Mathiason. (Provided)
From their mom, a real estate agent, the twins say they inherited her knack for navigating social norms and talking up strangers. Their dad, Jeff, a computer scientist, imparted his ability to reason and debate.
During the throes of the pandemic, Adriana understood when Ruby came out as gender nonbinary. As a 16-year-old, Ruby gave a TED Talk about their journey, a speech interspersed with examples of gender expansiveness and self-expression throughout history. That led to Ruby gracing the cover of a 2023 issue of Minnesota Women’s Press.