For Kirkland resident Borghild Skare and her twin sister Astrid Austrheim, this past Valentine’s Day carried even greater importance as it marked their 100th birthdays.
The sisters – who according to statistics have beaten the odds of 700 million to one to reach this milestone – celebrated across the miles. Skare resides at The Gardens at Juanita Bay Senior Community, while Austrheim lives in their homeland of Bergen, Norway. The two have not seen each other in nearly 20 years and the family arranged a surprise Web cam visit via Skype that took place on their 100th birthday Feb. 14.
This “face to face” computer visit was a surprise to Skare. Up until 1992, the two would faithfully travel back and forth annually to see one another, but gave up global traveling at the age of 81.
The twins were born in Bergen, Norway, the youngest of 11 children. Skare married Anias Skare on Jan. 27, 1940. In 1948, Anias took a job as a fisherman in Alaska and then as a steelworker in Ballard. Skare followed him to the the U.S. in 1950 bringing with her their daughter Ellie and son Bjorn.
In 1951, she gave birth to their third and last child Don. Moving to the U.S. was one of the biggest and hardest challenges in Skare’s lifetime. She did not speak the English language and had to leave her large family and beloved siblings behind to start a new way of life.
The twin sisters became members of the Denny Park Lutheran Church and were very active with the Fremad Society, a Norwegian organization. This was a great social outlet for the two: they enjoyed their new friends, the string band and great food at these events.
Son, Don Skare, remembers his mother as a great homemaker. Daughter, Ellie, says her mother was a “fantastic baker.” She made cookies for people’s weddings, incredible open-faced sandwiches, lots of fish and a family favorite was her lamb and cabbage dish.
Skare has always been meticulous about her appearance and that remains true today. Her children remember her teaching “Dresses are for the ladies and pants are for men.” She tried wearing pants to the hairdresser one cold day and her daughter says when they returned home she tore them off like they were on fire!
Each day at The Gardens at Juanita Bay you will find her neatly dressed in a skirt or dress and wearing a favorite cardigan sweater of light pink or baby blue. One of her favorite past times is spending time with her great-grandsons Erik and Kurt Gross.
Borghild and her family enjoyed lunch at her favorite restaurant The Olive Garden, on Feb. 14. She also shared a dinner with her friends at The Gardens at Juanita Bay that included Fyrstekake (Norwegian Royalty Cake) served in her honor.
Denise Stuth is the marketing director at Gardens at Juanita Bay.
