As two women prepare to leave for a few days together at South Padre Island, there will be plenty to discuss along the way—families, grandchildren, old memories and over fifty years of shared history.

But there is one subject they might remember a little differently.

The race.

A brother and sister were raised in Round Mountain, Texas. Both married during the first half of the 1970s, but their lives soon took them in slightly different directions. The brother and his wife remained in Round Mountain, while the sister and her husband moved to Austin.

Then the two young couples began building their families.

No starting pistol was fired, no rules were announced and neither of the two young wives officially admitted that a competition existed.

Nevertheless, the race was on.

A couple of years out of the gate, the sister took the early lead. In August 1974, she delivered a bouncing baby boy in Austin.

Her sister-in-law, still living in Round Mountain, was considerably behind—but there was a good reason for that. She was the younger of the two women. She entered the race in March 1976 with a sweet little girl.

The score was now one child apiece, although the sister still held the lead by nearly two years.

Late in 1976, both women became pregnant again. This time, it was going to be a close finish.

The sister crossed the line first, delivering another boy in May 1977. Her sister-in-law answered the challenge the following month with a boy of her own.

After two rounds, each woman had two children. The sister had two boys. Her sister-in-law had a girl and a boy.

Things were getting interesting.

The race entered another round in 1979, and this time the sister-in-law edged ahead. She delivered a boy in July. Big sister countered only three weeks later, in August, with another boy.

Once again, they were tied—three children apiece.

The sister now had three boys. Her sister-in-law had one girl and two boys.

By early 1982, Round Four was underway. The sister was expecting again, with an anticipated arrival sometime around September.

This time, however, her brother and his wife decided not to enter. Perhaps they believed the race was over. Perhaps they were content to let big sister move ahead by one.

But big sister was not satisfied with merely taking the lead.

She doubled up.

In September 1982, she delivered twin boys.

It was almost as though she looked toward Round Mountain at her younger sister-in-law and said:

“If you can’t keep up, I’ll show you a thing or two.”

And with that, the race was over.

The final count was five children for the sister—all boys—and three for her sister-in-law—one girl and two boys.

In 1983, the entire lively group gathered for a photograph with Ollie Baugh. There she sat in her early 90 years of life, holding the baby twins in her lap while the other six children crowded around her.

One young boy raised two fingers behind his brothers head. One looked away at precisely the wrong moment. The twins seemed uncertain about what was happening, and Ollie sat calmly in the middle of it all.

It was not a formal portrait. It was something better.

It was family.

Ollie lived until 1991, reaching the remarkable age of 99. She lived long enough to see her family extend across five living generations and to hold the youngest members in her own arms.

Today, the two women who once conducted their friendly, long-distance race between Austin and Round Mountain are preparing to spend time together at South Padre Island.

Those two competitors are still frolicking around together.

The babies in that old photograph are now grown. The race has long since ended, and time has carried everyone far beyond that crowded room in 1983.

There will probably be no discussion of who won.

Then again, they have a long drive ahead of them. That being said, those two have lots of miles in them, but neither show it. A

As life goes, several of these younguns have kids that have kids.