My childhood as a triplet

I was born in 1950 along with my sister and brother, we are triplets, or might I say the three musketeers. As I look back on this experience it was somewhat rewarding as well as disappointing. The rewarding part was, we always had each other to depend on, this is true even today. The disappointing part was, we really had no individual identity until we reached or teens. We were rarely referred to by our names, except around immediate family, we were always referred to as “the triplets”. We were always dressed alike, during our younger years with the exception, my sister wore a dress but it seemed that it always matched my brothers and my clothes. I think that was because my mother always made our clothes and she got the most out of the material she bought. I can see this now, but it was real hard to see as a youngster.
I can still remember my very first day of school. The school we attended was small, only two first grades, what this did was to separate us, it put two of us in one room together and the third was alone in the other. I was the odd man out, this was the first time in my hole life, at that time, that I was separated from my brother and sister, I was in panic, I remember crying until recess, when I was once again reunited with my brother and sister. When recess was over I was back in panic mode, this went on for about a week until I realized that they were not gone, they were just in a different room. It didn't get any easier to deal with, because who I was, was tied to that of my siblings.
It comes down to how a child see the world around them, when you draw your identity from your siblings this creates an identity crisis when you are removed from sibling group. As time goes on it easier and easier to separate yourself, but as a small child this can be real traumatic.