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"We feel very blessed," the six Overall sisters explained with matching smiles. Their combined ages add up to more than half a millennium! "God's been good to us!"
The Overall sisters of Farmington, Missouri recently submitted their information to Guinness World Records because they believe they hold the record for the longest living set of six siblings. Ranging in age from 88 -- 101, the sisters met with their local news station Action News 8 to talk about this remarkable achievement.
"God's been good to us," one of the sisters said with a bright smile.
A new record?
The decision to contact Guinness World Records was initiated by eldest sister Norma's son Dean.
"With most of these sisters in their 90's, this is history in the making," he explained to his local news outlet, "And we might really be onto something here." Their potential record is particularly impressive when you consider that the average lifespan for women in the US is currently 79.3 years. All six of the sisters have surpassed this mark.
The sisters expressed that their greatest sorrow was not to be able to share this experience with their only brother Stanley Overall Jr. who would have been 102 this year had he not passed away after a biking accident when he was 81.
"I think he would be thrilled with [the possible world record], and very proud of all of his sisters because they all meant the world to him,” Stanley’s daughter explained.
“Children as God’s special gift”
Watching the extended Overall family so lovingly interact in the interview, the words of the great Saint John Paul II come to mind: "Family is a small-scale version of the Church and is the sacrament of God’s love." The late Holy Father had an enormous passion for encouraging healthy family life. He named 1994 as the Year of the Family and once famously said: “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” In that homily, he continued:
The economic, social and cultural transformations taking place in our world are having an enormous effect on how people look upon marriage and the family. As a result many couples are unsure of the meaning of their relationship, and this causes them much turmoil and suffering. On the other hand, many other couples are stronger because, having overcome modern pressures, they exercise more fully that special love and responsibility of the marriage covenant which make them see children as God’s special gift to the and to society. As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.
Those words continue to resonate and seem even more applicable today. The pope’s remarks about seeing children as “God’s special gift” are especially powerful when you see the example of the loving Overall sisters.
With a combined age of 570 years, the sisters are waiting to hear back about whether they've set a world record. And regardless of the outcome, they expressed feeling "very blessed" for the life they've shared.
