Wanda English Burnett, Editor

Laughter might be the key to a long life. Even it it’s not, twin sisters, Eva Marie Mess and Neva Mae Hinners, who will celebrate their 90th birthday soon, say laughing is just good for you.

Eva, who now resides at St. Andrews Health Campus, Batesville, and Neva, who lives at Manderley Health Care Center, Osgood, were glad for the opportunity to get together as they shared memories with The Versailles Republican, just one week before their 90th celebration.

The twins, who are both in good mental and physical health, say things have certainly changed over the span of their lives. For example, they didn’t have electricity in their rural Pierceville home they shared with parents, Earl and Rose Knowlton. “We had lamps - kerosene,” Neva noted. “Sure did,” Eva chimed in. This is how they “got their lessons” or homework as today’s students might say.
They told of a simpler time even though it was hard. “We thought we were rich,” Neva said, with Eva agreeing. “We got one thing at Christmas,” Eva told, remembering Christmases past with a twinkle and a nod at her sister. They shared a secret about one time when they got into the presents ahead of schedule.

The girls attended grade school in Pierceville, finishing their education at Milan, when they graduated high school in 1936.

Soon after high school both girls married - Eva, who Neva pointed out is the oldest, married first. She and Joe Mess were married on September 6 with Neva following suit on March 1 to Arthur Hinners.
They have lived close to each other most of their lives with a couple stints apart. Telling about moving to Michigan for a short time, Neva remembered, “I couldn’t hardly wait to get home - because Eva was there.” Eva had the same sentiments when she was separated by miles from her sister.

Although the two are not identical twins, their minds are on the same wavelength. Remembering outdoor plumbing or more commonly known as an outhouse, Eva said, “It was cold in the wintertime.” Neva began, “Makes you appreciate...” Eva finished the sentence, “...what you got now.” They both erupted in laughter.

Eyes twinkling, the two shared many stories of pranks played on each other. Vividly remembering the “cow” incident, Neva said her sister would get her to come to the barn. Seeing a cow lying down, she would entice Neva to get on it. “That thing would raise its hind end up and I’d go flying off,” she made a swooping motion with her arm. Eva laughed with Neva giving her the ‘look’.

They remembered the days of horse and buggy and their family’s first car, a Model T. “We went to Cincinnati to get the car,” they told. On the way home, they picked up an extra passenger, a billy goat! “It was me and Eva and the billy goat sat in-between us in the back seat of that Model T,” Neva told.

The goat was so well mannered on the ride home, Neva thought he would make a great playmate. However, once outside the car, he showed his true colors and butted her promptly. The women laughed together at the memory.

They loved music, with Eva on the violin and Neva on the piano they made music together. They said they both took lessons and could read notes, but they also played by ear. Both women agreed they just followed each other’s lead and had a great time with it.

They remembered evenings of listening on the “party” line. “You know we cranked the phone,” Neva said. “Oh, yes, three long rings, two short,” Eva said, while they locked eyes and again, laughed. Well, they didn’t have television, computers or Internet, said they couldn’t afford the newspaper, so they enjoyed hearing the news on the “party” line. (For the younger generation, a party line is where you could pick up the phone and hear other people’s conversations, before telephone lines were private.)

While the twins were different in some ways, Eva loved the outdoors and Neva loved to cook and sew, they still had many similarities. Both had husbands who were in WWII. The ladies lived back at their childhood home during that time. “We would buy a month's worth of stamps at a time,” Neva said. “And then write our husbands every day.” “Yes, every day,” Eva said, with pride. “I didn’t like anything about it,” Neva said, referring to the war.

They tell of a time when life was hard, money was scarce, the luxuries of indoor plumbing and electricity unheard of. Their dresses, and yes, they only wore dresses, were handmade by their mother. They heated with a wood or coal stove and had no air conditioning in the summer. Their food mostly came from being preserved at home and they couldn’t remember eating in a restaurant as a child. They got plenty of exercise because they walked nearly everywhere they went - even to school.
And yet, they simultaneously agreed, “People don’t know what it is to live.” They said “back then” was really living. They were happy, life was good.

What’s the secret to living a long fulfilled life? Neva says, “It’s being good and faithful to family, to everyone, really.” Eva agreed, and together they laughed.

Eva and Joe had two children- Jack Mess and wife Sandy, who live in Elrod; Donna and husband, Fred, of Cincinnati. Neva and Arthur also had two children - Tom and wife, Rita of Seymour and Mike and wife, Carolyn of Pierceville. Together the ladies have more than 20 grand and great grandchildren.

A birthday celebration in the form of an open house will be held Sunday, March 2 from 2-4 p.m. at St. Andrews Health Campus, 1400 Lammers Pike, Batesville. Their families invite the community to participate in the event.

The twins agreed they are pranksters and weren't for sure exactly how they would celebrate their exact date of birth - March 4, 1918 - but, you can bet it will be fun and they will be laughing. Their children describe them as “characters, who truly enjoy life.”

THEN: The above picture of Eva Mess, left, and Neva Hinners, right, was taken at their high school graduation in 1936.NOW: Below they are pictured again, Eva, left, and Neva, right, just a week before their 90th birthday celebration. (Wanda Burnett Photo)