BOISE — Sheryl Martin and Sharon Newby, 84-year-old identical twin sisters at Brookdale Boise Parkcenter, have been determined to keep each other company — during the good and bad times.

While Martin has been in good health, she has watched Newby’s Alzheimer’s progress.

“She can’t remember, so her memory is she writes everything down on sticky notes,” Martin said. “It really bothers her because she knows she can’t remember.”

The two live at opposite sides of the Brookdale Boise Parkcenter: Martin on the independent living side and Newby on the assisted living side.

And every day, like clockwork, Martin walks over to the assisted living side to see Newby.

“We’ve been really close,” Newby said. “I don’t know what I would do without her. She’s been a big help.”

What used to be shopping sprees at the mall and eating out at local spots has turned into walks under the trees, card games and puzzling together in the assisted living center.

Martin helps Newby get to Bingo and the dining hall. And that friendship could lead to a longer lifespan for the pair.

A recent study by the U.S. Surgeon General spotlighted how important friendship is for people, stating that loneliness and a lack of social connection can increase the chance for premature death as much as “smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.”

“Sheryl takes really good care of her sister. She comes over every single day, rain or shine — she’ll walk over even in a snowstorm. She just comes over and spends time with her sister and makes sure that she gets to activities on time,” Brookdale Boise Parkcenter Activities Director Jennifer Linja said.

The twins are from north-central Idaho, born in Cottonwood and raised in Ferdinand. They both graduated top of their class — Newby awarded valedictorian and Martin salutatorian. They went on to a Spokane business college together, living with each other through college before Sheryl got married in 1959. That September, Sharon married.

For a long time, it seemed where one would lead, the other followed. Both women had children — Martin three and Newby five. On her first marriage, Martin moved to Spokane for awhile, separating the sisters briefly, and then moved back to Grangeville near Newby. During their time apart, they started talking on the phone every day.

The phone calls continued for years, Martin said. If they lived close to each other, they made sure to visit often. The closeness didn’t seem like a choice, Martin said.

“She wanted to see me and I wanted to see her,” Martin said.

After a 10-year marriage, Martin and her husband divorced in 1969. From 1969 to 1977, she was a single mom before remarrying.

“When we moved down to Grangeville (after my divorce), my kids and her kids were together all the time,” Martin said. “She (Newby) was a real help to me when I was living in Grangeville.”

Now, they’re both widows; Martin’s husband died in 1994, and Newby’s died a few years later. But, as always, the twins have each others’ backs and are a stroll away from each other.

Their story is more about friendship than it is about family, Linja said.

“They’re sisters first but they’re friends and it’s obvious to all of us,” Linja said.

The two have a different type of friendship than most siblings she’s seen, Linja said. It’s more intimate and special. They seem to know what the other one is thinking without speaking, Linja said.

The sisters stand as a lesson in what happens when perseverance takes place in friendships.

“Don’t give up,” Linja said. “Don’t give up on your family, especially once they are in assisted living or nursing home or skilled nursing or whatever … they’re still there and they need that friend connection.”