Exercise lifelong pursuit for Moses Lake twins

MOSES LAKE - Twin sisters Vere and Verna (they didn't like giving out their last names due to privacy concerns) usually swing by the Anytime Fitness center about two or three days a week.

Well, there was that Mariners game. And the family reunion in western Washington they attended, with their contribution of eight homemade coffee cakes.

Anyway, they try to stop by the gym a couple times a week, maybe three times.

Well, Vere's porch railing needed painting and they decided to thatch Verna's lawn, although, "the neighbor came by and he said, 'you know, you have a machine for that,'" Vere said. But then, the sisters and their kids always keep busy, including Vere's son, who is a dedicated roller blade skater at 70 years of age.

Okay. Wait. If Vere's son is 70, how old are the sisters? Well, they're 91-1/2, almost.

Vere and Verna were born in April 1922. They grew up in North Dakota, they said, on their parents' berry farm near the town of Startup. They were two of eight children, including twin brothers, Vere said.

Farming was a tough go in the 1920s, when the commodities market collapsed following World War I. The Depression of the 1930s made a bad situation worse. And there were eight kids in the family besides.

"But y'know, they were fun times," Vere said. Their dad made their toys, or they just played on and around the property. They both graduated from high school and married. Each has three children, "but no twins," Verna said. They moved to Washington in 1943, Vere said.

They raised their families in western Washington and moved to Moses Lake in 1991, to help care for a brother who was in failing health. "It's gone so fast," Verna said of the 23 years in Moses Lake.

And they've always been active. "We've always walked and exercised," Vere said, and were never big smokers or drinkers. Before they moved to Moses Lake they were part of a group of friends who got together to go walking. "We'd walk to Gold Bar, and then we'd walk back and have doughnuts and coffee," Verna said.

"I'll tell you, this exercise is the best thing for anyone," Vere said. She always takes the stairs when she's going to her doctor's office - but Verna said that's because Vere doesn't like the elevator.

Verna quoted the doctor who attended their mother, who had problems with arthritis and cut back on walking as a result. "Use them or you lose them. And that's just the attitude," she said. (Their mom lived to be 92 years of age.)

The sisters hit the treadmill and the weight circuits when they go to the gym. They recommend exercise for anybody and everybody, especially seniors. Even people with limited mobility should take advantage of what they have, Vere said.

What works for the body also works for the mind. "We try to do new things all the time," Vere said. Verna is a fan of crossword puzzles and sudoku, she said.

When people are young they may not think about taking care of themselves, but when they're older they may wish they had, Verna said.