Big party in Sint Michielsgestel this Sunday: the three twins of the Pennings family celebrate their birthday. You read that right: three twins in one family. “This year is a crowning year: we will be 60, 65 and 70 years old. Special, isn’t it?”
It is a striking fact: a family of eleven children, six of whom are part of twins.
“If you have three twins within ten years, plus the necessary loners. That’s quite a task,” laughs Gerard Pennings, who turned 65 on July 6 with his brother Huub.
“My parents worked day and night,” says his older sister Hennie, who, like brother Antoon, can blow out 70 candles on Monday.
“We were kept short by our siblings.”
“Every Monday my mother was doing the laundry from four in the morning until somewhere in the night, because with eleven children you had a lot of laundry. My father was also working day and night to feed the mouths and keep everyone tidy get dressed.”
Their parents received help from the other children. “We were kept short by our siblings. They were older and took care of us,” says Theo. He and his twin brother René will turn 60 in September.
“Celebrating this together is very special.”
“Unfortunately, our mother passed away a few months ago and she can no longer experience this. But I am sure that she is with our father and that they are enjoying it,” says Hennie.
So together they are 390 years old. “Celebrating that together is very special. It is the first time that we celebrate our birthday with six people at the same time.” And that’s why you want The Committee of Geminias the six call themselves, just do this again in five years.
