A long walk to staying fit and sane

After tragedy struck following an early retirement, Santie Barrish decided to cultivate joy - and she found it beneath the soles of her feet.

- By Helena Nell

For the past 13 years of her retirement, widow and former teacher Santie Barrish has lived with a mantra that has got her through whatever life has thrown at her: “I will be happy and content, no matter my circumstances.”

At 73, Barrish says she’s living her “best possible life” in Mbombela, where she and her husband, Menzo, worked and raised their two daughters. But this wasn’t always the case. Tragedy struck in December 2012, a mere two days before Barrish was due to retire from her post as the principal of Likhweti Primary School in Kanyamazane, a township just east of Mbombela.

“I remember seeing the Christmas lights going up in our local mall and feeling excited as I was about to retire at age 60 — earlier than planned because Menzo’s health wasn’t great and I wanted to have some adventures with him while there was time,” she says. “We had saved up and booked a boat trip to Singapore, and this would be the first time in more than 30 years that I could go on holiday without thinking about the next school term.”

Then everything changed. Menzo passed away the morning before her last working day. Their trip was cancelled and that December went by in a blur of shock and grief. On a Monday morning in January 2013, Barrish found herself alone in bed, wondering if she should even bother to get up. “It was the first day of the new school term and I remember thinking, what is there worth living for? I had no job and no husband. That’s when I came up with my mantra,” says Barrish.