Aberdeen Sisters In 90s Jump Rope, Do Aerobics To Keep Fit
ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Every morning, Jessie Overaker hops out of bed and, like so many others, gets in her workout.
Her exercise of choice is jumping rope. That’s been the case for the past 15 years.
She’s 92.
Her kid sister, Evelyn Cooper, does aerobics twice a day most days, with the same aim of keeping fit.
She’s 90.
Overaker starts at 7 every morning, so she isn’t in anyone else’s way at the Primrose Retirement Community where she lives.
“It’s just like getting dressed. I fix my breakfast and clean the kitchen and then I jump rope. Then I do stretching exercises. It’s part of my routine. I jump every day,” Overaker told the Aberdeen American News ( ).
She said she has been skipping rope for the majority of her life.
“My mother used to jump rope with us,” Overaker said.
“I just keep going until I jump 100 times,” she said.
Overaker used to jump in the parking lot of her apartment building, but last year slipped on the steps while going down to the lot and broke her wrist. She now jumps in a meeting area in the complex.
As for other exercise, Overaker said she likes to walk and do a few flights of stairs.
“I walk six different hallways. I’ve always exercised. When I don’t, I do feel kind of stiff, so it helps,” said Overaker.
She attributes her exercise to keeping ailments at bay and helping herself stay limber. She had a yearlong bout with polymyalgia rheumatica, an inflammatory disorder causing pain and stiffness, that has now gone dormant. She has not had any symptoms or flare-ups.
“After I retired, then I jumped rope every day. I had polymyalgia rheumatica for a year, and the months after that, I got back to jumping rope,” said Overaker.
After attending Northern State Teachers College for a year, Overaker taught for four years in the Faulkton area. She then became a legal secretary and paralegal when she moved to California. There, she met her husband, Kenneth. She said her husband also led a very active lifestyle. They did numerous 10-kilometer runs and would walk together. Overaker moved back to the Aberdeen area from California not long after her husband died in 2005. They were married for 39 years.
Cooper said that in addition to doing aerobics, she also walks outside when the weather allows.
“When it’s nice weather, I just run back and forth the 10 blocks,” said Cooper, of getting together with Overaker, who lives in the same neighborhood.
The sisters get together twice a week. They enjoy going to church services, sharing meals and watching Lawrence Welk.
“We enjoy each other’s company. We both have a good sense of humor,” Cooper said.
The sisters were Nos. 5 and 6 of their family of seven kids. They lost their youngest sister about a year ago. Cooper and Overaker are the last two. Cooper said losing family is expected when you live as long as they have, but it still hurts.
“Jess and I try not to let the calendar know how old we are,” Cooper said.
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Information from: Aberdeen American News,
