- Four women who graduated high school together in the 1950s have reunited in a senior living community to become modern-day Golden Girls
- Joan Harris, Elsie Webb, Sylvia Crane and Mary Grace Tassone lived at Atria Senior Living in Grass Valley, California for the past year
Four California women are being compared to the Golden Girls after being reunited at a senior living community 75 years after going to school together.
Joan Harris, Elsie Webb, Sylvia Crane and Mary Grace Tassone lived at Atria Senior Living in Grass Valley, California for the past year.
The four women all graduated from Mount Saint Mary Academy in the 1950s and went their separate ways to pursue careers and families, including twelve children between the four of them. Good morning America.
Crane was the last of the group to move into the community in July and said she felt a sense of relief seeing the familiar faces of her friends.
“When I walked into the dining room, all three of them were there, it was a nice feeling,” she said.
Joan Harris, Elsie Webb, Sylvia Crane and Mary Grace Tassone lived at Atria Senior Living in Grass Valley, California for the past year
Sylvia Crane (left) was the last of the group to move into the community in July and said she felt a sense of relief seeing the familiar faces of her friends
Mary Grace Tassone (right) has lived at Atria Senior Living the longest over the past three years
Harris moved in last May and said she immediately recognized Tassone as he sat in the lobby.
“They were friendly faces in a strange place, friendly faces that I knew who they were, and I knew their backgrounds,” Harris said.
“I didn’t have to explain anything that was happening in my life, they already knew that.”
Tassone has lived at Atria Senior Living the longest of the group for the past three years.
The women meet for various activities, such as movie nights and music performances, and reminisce about their school memories.
“We talk about different things from high school,” Crane said. “For example, we had a little old nun and she made root beer every night. And every afternoon she would bring the root beer out of the cellar and ring a bell, so we would all get a quarter for our mug of root beer.”
Their living situation is reminiscent of the popular TV show The Golden Girls, about four single older women living together in their golden years. The group said they like to call themselves the “Silver Girls.”
The four women all graduated from Mount Saint Mary Academy in the 1950s and went their separate ways
The women meet for various activities, such as movie nights and music performances, and reminisce about their school memories
The women told CBS Sacramento that they meet at the dinner table three times a day.
Harris said, “It’s nice to know someone here. It is real. Someone who knows you a little and what you’ve been through.’
“Hold on to the friends you have, because you don’t know how long they will be here.”
Their living situation is reminiscent of the popular TV show The Golden Girls, about four single older women who lived together in Miami in their golden years.
The sitcom, starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Estelle Getty and Rue McClanahan, was a huge hit and ran for seven seasons between 1985 and 1992.
Inspired by the iconic show, the Sacramento friends said they like to call themselves the “Silver Girls.”
Golden Girls icon Betty White died on New Year’s Eve 2021, just weeks before her 100th birthday, and she was the last of the hit show’s four leads to die.