Real Lives: Bond still strong as twins celebrate their joint 80th

Published on Thursday 28 July 2011 11:47

THERE will be a double celebration tomorrow when twins Margot McDonald and Marie Johnston celebrate their 80th birthdays together at a joint party with their family.

Born in Dunoon, Margot and Marie spent some time on the family farm in Stirling as small children before moving to Edinburgh and attending primary school in the Capital.

They were the youngest of four children, but their older brothers, Charles and Jim, were both killed within six months of one another while serving with the RAF during the Second World War.

After leaving school, Margot worked as a secretary in an engineering works in Edinburgh, and it was through that connection that her sister met another of the company's staff, Bill Johnston, who she was to marry in the mid-1950s.

Marie and Bill had a daughter, Wilma, and lived in Marchmont, where they ran their own central heating business, Lothian Heating Services.

The couple were hit by tragedy in 1975 when Wilma was involved in a motor- cycle accident and died several days later. In 1988 Marie was widowed when Bill suffered a heart attack.

Margot married her first husband, Scott Anderson, in the mid-1950s and had two children, Ruth and Alan. However, her marriage to Scott broke down, and he died in 1961.

In 1969, she met George, who was also separated and had moved to the Capital from Perth with his children Ken and Christine.

The couple met because Ken and Alan were then pupils in the same class at Parsons Green Primary School. The two families came together, with Ruth, Alan, Ken and Christine becoming brothers and sisters, when Margot and George married in 1970.

In 1972, Margot and George had a daughter, Alison.

Margot is now a grandmother of 16, two of whom are sadly deceased, as well as being a great-grandmother of five.

As the twins approach their 80th birthdays together, they both still live in Edinburgh - Marie in Liberton and Margot in Loanhead.

They will celebrate their birthdays tomorrow in the company of family members at Marie's home.

Margot's son Ken said: "I think they're both looking forward to their birthday.Most of the family are going to be there."

Despite being twins, they have their differences, he joked: "Marie's quite straight, no nonsense, and Margot, my mum, is quite chirpy - but doesn't take fools lightly!"

Her daughter Alison Garland added: "They both love the kids visiting and they really have a very strong bond between them. They're very, very close - so much so that it's almost like having two mothers!

"We've got a couple of the children who are abroad at the moment but, apart from that, everybody's going to be there, so we're looking forward to the party."