For Windsor’s George Osborne and his twin sister Barbara Suominen, celebrating their 90th birthday Friday is a remarkable milestone considering they had a close call with death when they were only 13.

On a cold day in 1941, the two, along with a younger brother and classmate, were walking to school taking a shortcut on ice-covered Little River near their house. With her brother several feet ahead of her, Barbara suddenly heard the sound of the ice cracking beneath her feet. 

“I felt the ice break and it just kind of took me,” Barbara said. “I couldn’t swim. I was kicking and splashing and yelling for help. I thought I was going to drown.”

George heard his sister yelling for help and was surprised when he turned around and saw her splashing around in the water trying to stay afloat. Worried, he walked out on the ice toward his sister, when suddenly the ice broke and he too fell into the water.

“Here I am going to save my sister and I end up joining her in the water,” he said. 

Their friend, Charlie Day, was with them. He was a good swimmer and fearless. Charlie crawled out to them on his stomach and reached out to the twins. He got them both out of the water and the frozen, wet group headed home. 

“I don’t think about it too much now, but I suppose at that time I did,” Barbara said. “I know I was really, really scared.”

But as Barbara points, the twins have had their share of scares over the years. In the early 2000s they both survived cancer scares. George was hit with colon cancer and Barbara with breast cancer. But despite all the struggles in life, the twins have remained close and now live within walking distance of each other. When they lost their spouses, they started to travel together a bit to enjoy time together. They both have five children.

Being back in the same town is great for the twins as years ago they were separated when Barbara moved up to Thunder Bay to work as a hospital nurse. George stayed in Windsor and worked as an analytic chemist at the  Wyeth Canada pharmaceutical operation before becoming CEO of the now-closed Windsor company. 

For George, he believes the secret to living a long, healthy life is really quite simple. 

“I have a drink every day — wine or something other,” he said. “I also exercise every day. I do weights in the morning and then I usually go for a walk. And, I’ve never smoked a day in my life.”

An open house will be held for the twins on January 5 form 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Chartwell St. Clair Beach retirement home, 13500 Riverside Dr. E.

ksteele@postmedia.com