Home again for Christmas: Sisters celebrate holidays together in same assisted living facility | Bismarck

The last time sisters Josephine Mosbrucker, 96, Irene Miller, 95, and Clara Ferderer, 94, lived together was on the family farm near Center. They all eventually moved away when they got married, but remained close over the years.

Today, they are now closer than ever since they became neighbors at the Benedictine Living Community in Bismarck.

Miller has been living at Benedictine since September and was joined by Mosbrucker two months ago. Ferderer then moved to Benedictine three weeks ago to be closer to her family.

“I was down in Wishek all alone,” Ferderer said. “Two or three days would go by and I wouldn’t see anybody that I knew so I moved down here.”

They now see each other every day; they eat meals together, attend exercise classes together and enjoy each other’s company.

The sisters enjoy sharing stories and remembering the hijinks they got into, like the time they found their Christmas presents early and had to act surprised when they got them.

Mosbrucker said after doing their chores, the sisters had to find ways to entertain themselves. They would mess around with the water snakes from their pond and go sledding with sleds made from whatever they had handy. For Christmas, they would always go to church and open their presents on Christmas Day.

Now the sisters entertain themselves with crochet, puzzles and books. Though they do not have the energy to chase snakes anymore, they still have each other and are looking forward to another Christmas spent together.

While they don’t always see eye to eye, the sisters said they never fight. They may poke fun at each other and argue over the little things like other sisters do, but nothing has ever driven them apart. There originally were seven sisters. Four are living, with the fourth sister living elsewhere in Bismarck.

Miller recalled her siblings taking a road trip years ago.

“There were four of us sisters in the car and we went all the way out to the West Coast and I don’t think we had an argument the whole way,” Miller said. “We get along fine.”

The sisters said they didn’t really miss each other over the years; not because they didn’t like one another, but because they were never really apart. They called to chat with each other and visited during birthdays and holidays. However, their new accommodations ensure that they will never be out of reach.

“It never entered my mind that we’d end up here together,” Mosbrucker said. “We never planned it but we like seeing each other.”