MOSSEL BAY NEWS - At 79, Maureen Alberta Harris, or Berti for short, calls herself a "recycled teenager".
"The only difference between a younger version of Berti and Berti as an elderly woman is that I have many more wrinkles. But I still try to keep my mind and body busy, and I am not afraid of a challenge," says Harris.
If you were to flip through her life's resumé, you'd find that this woman's fearlessness in the face of a challenge was no exaggeration.
These days, she's a resident of Santos Haven in Mossel Bay, but Harris was born in Ireland. She sailed to South Africa with her parents and sister when she was only 10 months old. After two years, they moved to Broken Hill in the northern parts of what was then Rhodesia. It is now the Zambian town of Kabwe.
She completed her schooling and went to the University of Cape Town to study BA in speech and drama. In her second year, she placed as a rag queen finalist and started modelling. It was also here that she met her now late husband, Tannah Harris, who became a pilot afterwards.
Their life together involved many adventures - anything from skiing in Europe to parachuting in America.
"Some of the proudest moments in my life were being a rag queen finalist, being chosen to join the Ford Modeling Agency in New York for a year (but I decided not to go), being on two Satour [Tourism] posters advertising South Africa overseas, doing the parachute jump, completing my first Argus at 50 and doing a bridge jump when I was 51.
"I rode my last Argus when I was 65. I rode the Argus 12 times - always barely making it in time, but I got my medals."
Here in Mossel Bay, Berti is a founding member of the Mossel Bay Bridge Club and is still the chairperson after 22 years.
"I have been doing line dancing for 25 years and playing golf (very badly) for over 40 years." In the local golfing world, she has also been the Southern Cape Nomads' match secretary for 23 years.
Much of her inspiration for how she has lived her life thus far comes from her mother, says Berti. "My late mother, Maureen Cartmill, has always been my inspiration, and I would love to be like she was.
“She was kind and gentle, and had high moral standards, but she never criticised or dictated, just advised, and she had a great sense of humour. I think she was very brave, leaving Ireland at 27 with my dad and two little girls and going up to Broken Hill, which was the end of the railway line in those days - and she was expecting my late brother."
On a lighter note, Berti says her least favourite part of being a woman is having to paint on her face every day, but other than that, "I think it is great! Women deserve the honour and respect they are shown on Women's Day.
“My advice to other ladies: Always just be yourself. Be true and kind to yourself. Value the precious friendships you have with other women and have a laugh and a giggle together whenever you can. Always treat your husband or partner as you would like to be treated yourself."
