A long life, lived in tandem

Growing old is not for the faint of heart. But maybe it’s a bit easier when you grow old with someone who has known you nearly all your life.

That’s the case for Pearl Cartman and Dora Elliott, two sisters who, over the weekend, celebrated Pearl’s 100th birthday. Dora turned 101 in February.

The two are often asked to provide the secret to their longevity. The women will tell you that it’s not their quantity of years that’s impressive, but the fact that they have few regrets, are in relative good health and have had each other as a confidante and friend.

They both married and then outlived their husbands. They both traveled, but always felt more grounded at home. They’ve never lived more than walking distance from one another and still live in their Chatham neighborhood homes. Pearl has a live-in homemaker. Dora lives alone.

“Aging is something that surprises you,” Pearl said. “The easier you keep your life, the easier aging is on you.”

“I’ve volunteered all my life,” Dora said. “I felt that if you helped other people, you weren’t so focused on yourself.” The feistier of the two sisters, Dora gave up driving only earlier this year.

I met Pearl and Dora recently at Pearl’s home, where the two were visiting. They both wore jogging suits âEUR” Pearl’s was cream-colored and Dora’s was a chocolate brown âEUR” and they both had their hair and nails done.

We sat in a living room amid pictures that tell the story of two women who have lived through two world wars, the Depression and the fight for civil rights movement, both nationally and in Chicago.

There’s a photograph of the two of them as young women posing after having played tennis. Other photos include Pearl’s husband, who passed away in 1986, and Dora’s, who died in 1993.

Although Dora never had children, Pearl has two daughters and a son, six grandchildren (one is deceased) and 11 great-grandchildren. She’ll proudly tell you that all but one of the adults are college graduates.

Though Pearl uses a walker to get around and Dora uses a cane âEUR” “I don’t need it all the time, though,'” Dora said âEUR” neither has had any major surgeries. They attribute their relative good health to having never smoked or drank much. The two used to drink an occasional glass of wine, but they now prefer the occasional glass of beer.

Dora and Pearl were born in Natchez, Miss., in 1910 and 1911, the youngest of nine children. Dora said their mother, a nurse, brought them and another sister âEUR” who died seven years ago at age 102 âEUR” to Chicago in 1919. That was during the first wave of the Great Migration of blacks to the city from the Deep South.

“My mother used to sew our clothes, and she would cut out a dress for me and then cut one out for Pearl,” Dora said. “We would always be dressed alike walking down the street, and my mother would tell me to hold my sister’s hand.”

When the sisters were 14 and 13, their mother died and an aunt took them in. They later graduated from Lucy Flower Technical High School, the city’s first trade school for girls, and went to work as “shop girls” in downtown department stores, stocking clothes and decorating store windows.

In the early 1930s, Pearl and Dora each married, and those relationships would last more than half a century.

The sisters always have attended church, each taking on different responsibilities. Pearl earned a real estate license. She said she sold the late gospel singer Mahalia Jackson her home at 83rd Street and Indiana Avenue.

Barbara Fredrick, Pearl’s daughter, said her mother and aunt devoted much of their lives to taking care of their families and serving people in their church and community.

“They know they’re the only ones left,” Fredrick said. “Everyone they started out with and many, many people they met along the way are now gone. The nice thing is that they still have each other.”

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