Page 28 - Demo

28 April 2025 | BeaufortLifestyle.comstory by HEATHER STEINBERGER photos by SUSAN DELOACH O n the little wooden porch behind Marshview Mercantile, two friends sit together in the spring sunshine. They gaze across the marsh, they reminisce, and they laugh together easily, the way old friends do. They have been friends for a long time, long enough to effortlessly finish each other%u2019s sentences. Thirty years ago, Sondra Smith and John Doriot met at a hospital in Augusta, Georgia. Both young professionals were in the early years of their healthcare careers, and they forged a bond that would weather the storms of both work and life. They celebrated each other%u2019s retirement, when it came. And they shared each other%u2019s delight when that retirement proved to be the catalyst for second careers, the fulfillment of dreams and a reimagining of what life could be. Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Sondra studied physical therapy at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. She took a position at Doctors Hospital in the city, where she says she moved from the bedside to administration. %u201cI got involved in strategy and operations,%u201d Sondra explains. %u201cAt the time, John was director of the lab.%u201d %u201cShe was my boss for a short period of time,%u201d says John, who grew up in Bristol, Tennessee, and graduated from the University of Tennessee. %u201cWe became friends. That was probably 1996. We went through a lot of change together at that hospital.%u201dSondra Smith and John DoriotRetirement Reimagined