CYPRESS, Texas - Thousands of students said goodbye to high school this weekend, but it was an especially memorable milestone for one family in the Cy-Fair School District.
The Burns family got to celebrate graduation four times as their quadruplets got their diplomas.
Though Rachel, Lauren, Thomas and Annie Burns share a birthday, they have very different personalities.
According to the quads, Lauren is the athletic one. Annie’s a bit of a clown. Thomas is known for his role as the basketball team’s manager. Rachel, meantime, is the “most-friendly one,” according to Lauren.
In school, they were known as the “Burns Quads.”
“A lot of the students and teachers know us,” Lauren said. “They think it’s cool when they have us in their classes.”
KHOU 11 first introduced you to the quads, along with their parents Tom and Sue, right after they were born in January 1999.
“We’re ready for them. As we can be,” Tom said back then.
When asked what he thought about that statement 18 years later, he laughed, “I lied. I had no idea what it was going to be like.”
Tom and Sue both credit a strong support network with helping them care for four infants. As Tom points out, that boiled down to about 40 diapers a day.
It’s been nearly two decades of four of everything, culminating with the four graduation robes they wore on Saturday.
“She cried. I didn’t,” said Tom, before adding, “I had a tear.”
The kids are now gearing up to head to four different colleges all over the state of Texas.
Rachel will major in education at Texas State, while Lauren plans to study biology at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Thomas’s communications studies will take him to Texas A&M and Annie will pursue a degree in international relations at UTSA.
“We’re really excited for them,” Sue said.
“Instead of being called the quads, they’ll be called Annie or Thomas or Rachel or Lauren,” said Tom.
The Burns kids said they’re looking forward to creating their own identities separate from their siblings, but they know it’s going to be a big change.
“I miss them already and they’re not even gone yet,” Annie said.
It’s safe to say Sue and Tom feel the same way.
“Going from none to four was quite an experience,” Tom said.
“Now we’re going from four to none because they’re going to college,” said Sue. “I’m going to cry.”