“They don’t see color,” Ashley Riggs Sarnicola, Jia’s mother, told ABC News.Jia Sarnicola and Zuri Copeland of Miami insist they’re twins because they “have the same birthday and the same soul,” Jia said.
Jia is blonde and Caucasian, while Zuri has black hair and is African American. Their birthdays are actually two days apart — Jia’s is June 3 and Zuri’s is June 5 — but they celebrated together this year and share a very special bond.
The girls’ moms said they are very proud their daughters don’t notice their differences, only their similarities.
“I think that’s one of the nice things about growing up in a multicultural, melting pot city,” Jia’s mom, Ashley Riggs Sarnicola, told ABC News. “They don’t see color. We’ve never talked to them about it, period.”
It wasn’t until a recent incident at a friend’s birthday party that Sarnicola realized Jia’s unique viewpoint on their friendship.
“They were at a birthday party for a mutual friend, waiting in line to get their faces painted,” Sarnicola said. “She was telling a girl’s older sister they were twins, and the girl gave her an odd look and said, ‘You’re not twins.’ My little girl started bawling crying because she truly believes she and Zuri are twins.”
Without missing a beat though, Jia replies, “‘You don’t know anything because we have the same birthday and the same soul,’” Sarnicola said. “When she said that, it took me aback. It was so sweet.”
Sarnicola said the girls have been inseparable since they met at school two years ago.
“They’re both little Geminis,” Sarnicola said. “They have very strong personalities and are both super outgoing, well-spoken, intelligent, and not afraid to tell you what they want. They hit it off right away.”
Zuri’s mom, Valencia Copeland, said the girls have a board on the wall at their school highlighting their friendship.
“It is unbelievable. They connected very well immediately,” Copeland told ABC News. “It was amazing how they’ve gelled together.”