- Verla Starkey and Merla Swenson, 95-year-old identical twins, share life lessons.
- They emphasize self-sufficiency, healthy living and maintaining close family relationships.
- Their shared experiences include sewing clothes during the Great Depression and painting.
KAYSVILLE — Verla Starkey and Merla Swenson like to say they are a part of a do-it-yourself family.
This started during the Great Depression in the 1930s when the now 95-year-old identical twins were living in Ogden and started dressing alike to save their family some money on clothing.
Their father brought home flour sacks from work, and their mother used the sacks as material for their clothing — pajamas, hats, and anything else — and the young girls learned the importance of sewing their own clothes.
Taking care of things and including taking care of themselves not only helped to save money but was mentally stimulating, provided something to be proud about and a sense of achievement.
And at 95 years old — well, really 95-and-a-half, as they are quick to remind you — being around to tell their stories is definitely a sense of achievement, one they believe others can acquire, as well.
"I like to brag in my old age. It's because I've earned it. Well, I'm not ready to fly over the moon yet," said Swenson. "As part of a do-it-yourself family, we had a lot of togetherness and we ate healthy and that plays a part of living a long life. But you also have to keep learning."
"And I think it helps that we live together," Starkey said. "We talk and laugh and share stories. We laugh. All that helps."
Over 95 years, the twins have seen a lot of changes in Utah, in the West and in America.
They were born in 1930 — 10 years after women got the right to vote — and lived in a world where women got married at a young age, 18 or 19 years old. Babies soon followed, as was the norm in the late 1940s, early 1950s, they said.
They both remembered the day World War II ended, the cheers and singing in the streets and the excitement that it was finally over. They also experienced a change in work culture in America, with Starkey moving along with her husband and children to 13 cities in nine states, following the work wherever it took them.
Overall, things were a lot quieter and moved a lot slower decades ago, but this didn't stop them from engaging in some hobbies, another suggestion they have for anyone wanting to live at least 95 years.
They played the piano and sang in high school, with their peers telling them they had beautiful voices.
Swenson began to paint, originally in oils and eventually watercolors. Her work is displayed throughout her home for any visitor to see and spark a conversation about her motivation and her technique.
She took classes to increase her painting skills and eventually shared her knowledge with her sister, Verla, during a camping trip.
I'm not ready to fly over the moon yet.
–Merla Swenson
"It was the most exciting week I think I've ever had," she said. "I started to look at the world a different way. I started to notice the shape and color of rocks and the branches on trees. ... I recommend anyone paint things outdoors and their life will change."
A curiosity of the world around them is what they believe has helped keep them around for 95 years. Both sisters, as well as members of their families, spoke about how the twins' interest in life has brought them a desire to talk and think about what is going on around them.
The identical twins both say having a healthy diet is important for living a long life. But a close relationship with family is right up there as well.
They both say they have a very close family. They go camping together. They call each other regularly. They have children who visit and take care of them.
When Swenson's husband died, she was living alone, but was deteriorating rapidly, her family said. Starkey then suggested to her sister that she move in with her in Kaysville, in a house Starkey has lived in for the last 32 years.
Swenson made the move and everyone — children, nieces, local visitors and Starkey — say she is back to the woman they knew.
Together, she and her sister could talk about the good old days, laugh together, and also tease each other. In other words, they can be their happy selves.
"I don't know how many times I heard Verla say, 'I'm happy.' ... It's this focus on the positive and then growing up in the Depression where you learn how to make your own clothes out of flour sacks that you learn you can really get through anything, especially if you were doing it together," said Shala Dendler, a hospice chaplain who visits the twins.
Starkey confirmed this sense of happiness.
"I could go right now and I'd be happy," she said.
"We, the two of us, have done a lot. And I'm not through," Swenson said.
Correction: In an earlier version, Merla Swenson's name was incorrectly spelled Swanson in the photo captions.
