Birthday twins recall a smaller Calgary
Sisters celebrate milestone 90th anniversary
When Myrtle Black and Marion Pennington were growing up in Calgary, the city limits were at 50th Avenue and Elbow Drive.
“You used to know everyone and everybody knew you,” Black said.
The twin sisters, born and raised here, celebrated their 90th birthdays Tuesday with a family gathering at the Calgary Golf and Country Club.
Pennington has spent most of her life in Calgary, apart from a few years in Edmonton and London, England.
Black has lived here since she and her sister were born in 1922.
Today, the twins live in the same retirement home in northwest Calgary.
While their families are excited to celebrate their shared birthday, the sisters don’t make a big deal out of reaching the nine-decade milestone.
“Ninety is just a number. It’s nothing,” said Pennington, joking there will be another celebration for the pair’s 100th birthday.
“We’re lucky,” Black said about being healthy and living independently at Manor Village. “But when you get to be 90, you’re lucky you’ve got a lot of things.”
Both Black and Pennington said Calgary was a great place to grow up and to raise their kids. All four of Black’s children still live in Calgary. Pennington’s three are spread out, in Toronto, North Carolina and Qatar.
They both said that with longer bus commutes and busier schools, they’re glad they don’t have to raise children today.
“I don’t think anything’s the same,” said Black, adding she and her husband used to run their dogs off-leash in the very area she lives in now.
Despite the changes, Black said she’s happy she has stayed in Calgary her whole life.
“When you stop to think about it, I think we were darn smart,” she said. “It’s the best place in the world.”