There aren't too many things that sisters Robin Hincman and Renee Dempsey don't do together.
They drive the same white car, go to the gym together in the morning, attend the same church, live in the same city (Peabody) and work at the same place (Salem State College). But that just scratches the surface.
Thirty-five years ago this week, the Salem sisters married two best friends from Peabody, Paul Hincman and Dana Dempsey, in a double wedding ceremony at St. James Church in Salem.
Old photos show their father, Robert Millard, walking the brides down the aisle, one daughter on each arm, and doing the traditional father-daughter dance at the reception with an arm around each of his girls.
From the time they started going on double dates together up to their recent 35th wedding anniversary trip to Aruba, the two couples continue to be inseparable.
"We're more than close," Robin said of her sister. "We do everything, I mean everything, together."
The two families are so close that when their children were little, they thought they were siblings — not cousins. The sisters ran a children's resale shop together in Salem for 10 years, took family vacations together, and went to each other's children's sports games and graduations.
All four of them even go to the same doctor.
"Every step of our lives, we do together," said Renee, 54. "Robin is having her first grandchild, and she told me, 'It's your grandchild, too.'"
Dana Dempsey said the sisters, who are 18 months apart, have such an uncanny bond that they can finish each other's sentences and even read each other's thoughts.
"What's really not fair is if we play a game like Pictionary," said Dana, 56. "They draw one line, and the other one knows what it is. We get killed. We say, 'You must be cheating!'"
Paul Hincman joked that it feels like having two wives sometimes.
"We get bossed around so much," Paul, 56, said with smile.
"We talk to them like they're both our husbands — it's hard not to," Robin confesses.
The two couples share many of the same friends, both go to South Congregational Church in Peabody, enjoy going out to dinner on weekends, and spend Saturdays together on the Hincmans' boat.
The Hincmans have two sons, David and Jeremy, and the Dempseys have three children, Ryan, Meaghan and Patrick.
"That's the only thing we did different," Renee joked.
Robin and Renee also have a brother and another sister.
Robin and Renee are so cosmically connected that Robin awoke one night, years ago, because she mistakenly thought her smoke alarm was beeping. At that very moment, the smoke alarm had actually beeped in her sister's house.
"She sensed it," Renee said.
When they were married in 1975, the sisters planned their honeymoons separately, without informing each other, so they could do something independently. Lo and behold, they had picked the very same resort in the Poconos.
"They are just so in tune with each other it's incredible," Dana said.
The unbreakable bond has enhanced many happy times and milestones over the years. But it's also proving invaluable during the tough times.
Last fall, Renee was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and her sister was by her side the entire time, through treatments and all. Robin put together Thanksgiving dinner and did her sister's Christmas shopping and gift wrapping for her.
Everyone made it through that ordeal only to learn, soon after, that Robin, 55, had been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive disease that affects nerve cells and causes muscle weakness and atrophy. The news was crushing to everyone.
"We've done a lot of crying," Renee said, "and had to lift each other up through tough times."
As Robin faces the illness, Renee said she is there for her now and will be in the future, whether it's to tie her shoes or even to speak for her, if need be. She always knows what Robin is thinking, she said, so she's confident she can do that.
"People sent Robin get-well cards when I was sick, and vice versa," Renee said. "It's like we're one."
"Well," Robin replied, "we are."
Staff writer Amanda McGregor can be reached at amcgregor@salemnews.com.
