Centenarian sisters: Life has been good

Even though the sisters live miles apart, they stay in contact through letters
By SARAH POULTON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
McDONALD -- As the new year approaches, two sisters will soon celebrate a combined total of 203 years of life.
On Saturday, Martha Cook of Mulberry, Fla., will turn 101. Her big sister, Margaret "Meg" Leighton, 102, of McDonald, is excited to help her celebrate. Cook is in the area visiting Leighton and her own daughter, Eleanor Daum of Howland.
Both sisters were born and reared in Cambuslang, Scotland, near Glasgow. The youngest and last living of 11 siblings, the dynamic duo are still walking, talking and laughing as if they were in their 30s.
Cook was the first to make the journey to North America in 1922. She moved to Toronto, Canada, when she was 17 to become a nanny and left a boyfriend, David, back in Scotland. One day, he showed up in a shiny red convertible with a diamond in his pocket. He whisked her off to America, where they settled in Girard and had four daughters and a son.
Leighton didn't make it to America until 1947, after having lived in Sidney, Australia, for eight years. With her husband, Thomas, and their two children, she came to the states after encouragement from Cook.
Cook was a homemaker, and Leighton worked as a housekeeper.
They were able to make numerous trips back to the old country.
World travelers
Leighton's daughter, Margie Komlanc of McDonald, said her mother is well-traveled. She's been around the world twice, crossed the Atlantic Ocean seven times and has lived in four countries, she said.
"Her suitcase is always packed," Komlanc said. "She's ready to go at a moment's notice."
After her husband died in 1977, Cook moved to Mulberry, Fla., with her daughter, Norma Chittock. But that didn't stop the sisters from remaining the best of friends. They visit often and write letters, since they are both hard of hearing and struggle on the telephone.
Daum said when the two sisters get together, it's difficult to get a word in. They go on and on about anything and everything, and since both of them are hard of hearing, it can get quite loud at times, she said.
"They love to talk," Daum said. "They reminisce about Scotland and when they were kids."
Fortunately for the sisters, they have found comfort in knitting. Cook usually knits slippers and baby booties, and Leighton knits sweaters. Both sisters knit from sunup to sundown like it's their job. They have both said on occasion that the project they were working on would be their last, but it never is, Komlanc said.
"About 10 sweaters ago, mother said, 'Margie, I think that'll be my last," Komlanc said.
Daum said she thinks that knitting is a positive thing the two of them can do when they get together.
"They both knit all the time," Daum said. "I think that's what keeps their minds' alert."
Leighton's husband died in 1964, and 14 years later, Leighton and an older sister moved into Komlanc's house in McDonald. Komlanc said Leighton hasn't dated since her husband died because she felt there was only one man for her.
Tough times
Leighton said she was lucky to have someone looking out for her because she has been close to death in the past. In 1954, Leighton had a brush with death that almost took her ability to walk. While she was waiting for a bus on U.S. Route 422 in Girard, she was hit by a milk truck and dragged down the road. She was in the hospital for almost 10 weeks, and the doctor said she would never walk again.
"All day, she goes up and down the stairs," Komlanc said. "And they said she would never walk again."
Komlanc said that if that didn't get her down, nothing would. Over the past few years, she has broken her leg, then her pelvis: "She continues to go up and down those steps like she's a teenager."
Together, as the sisters approach Cook's 101st birthday, Cook and Leighton agreed that they have very few, if any, regrets in life. Cook said she has no regrets and feels grateful that she has lived a long, healthy life.
"The Lord has been good to me," Cook said. "I can't hear anything, but I've got all my wits about me."
Leighton said she is satisfied with her life.
"I did everything I wanted to do," Leighton said. "I made my decisions, and I was lucky it turned out OK."
spoulton@vindy.com