When you take a look at your current friendships, can you imagine having the same friends around for 90 years? In the epitome of squad goals, four women from Southwest Washington, D.C., formed a friendship over 90 years ago, and it’s still going strong. This summer Leona Barnes, Gladys Butler, Ruth Hammett and Bernice Underwood plan to celebrate their 100th birthdays together.
“We all are grateful, and we thank the Lord for all of us to see 99,” Barnes said.
In an interview with the Washington Post, the ladies reminisced about their friendship and how they’ve stayed connected to one another and their community in D.C.
“It was a fine neighborhood,” Barnes said. “If you took sick, the next person would know about it. We were very close, closely knitted. That’s one thing that we miss. The neighbor on either side, they’d make you nice hot soup. It’s not like neighborhoods of today where sometimes you don’t know your next-door neighbor.”
The ladies definitely let readers know that it wasn’t all laughs growing up together. They fought. Their children fought. Their grandchildren did, too. But throughout the years, their bond has remained intact.
“We would fight together and our children would, too—and then we’d have a good time,” Barnes said. “We were friends, friends, friends.”
Take a look at the women speaking about their lifelong friendship: