(QUIRKY THEME MUSIC) Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020. (BELL TOLLS) (PLAYFUL MUSIC) Kia ora, tatou. Kia ora, everybody. Thank you for coming here, those of us who are here... on time. We try and have staff meetings every two weeks. But if you ask any staff member around here, that's... almost impossible. I'll try not to be too long, although the list goes off the paper. I'm normally too busy for staff meetings. Someone has to stay on board and do work while everyone else just sits and listens. So at the reception at Henderson and Onehunga, you'll see there's new little candle arrangements both there and here. We now have Barbie, and she's part of our Henderson admin team. Oh, how was your funeral on Saturday? Oh, they were asking for you. Ohh, were they? I knew they liked me. She's quite a personality, Barbie. She will tell you what she thinks, and she is not holding back. And this is what I love about her. FIONA: Barbie is a baker. She's well known for her cheesecakes. That's why we're not getting any skinnier. So, tonight is our Zumba. Hey, question, are we still wearing tutus? No, we won't wear tutus. (WOMAN CACKLES) Thank you. But we can get some pink ribbons for our hair. Yeah. There won't be any big enough, anyway. They'll all be small tutus. Nona has brought up in our staff meetings that she'd like us to attend a Zumba fundraiser. Um, which is out of the... out of the world, really, for Nona to be talking about physical activity. So basically, all we're doing is we're going in there, they do Zumba; they have a professional instructor there, and basically that will go for 40 minutes. 4-0? 4-0. The Zumba that I'm trying to get our work colleagues into is to support women's cancer. In particular, breast cancer. The girls are definitely down in that workplace. Francis, he's more like, um, in that mind frame, 'I'll just donate and maybe not participate.' (QUIRKY MUSIC) (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) Ohh, hello, dear. Today in our care we have Mrs Ivy May Gibbs. Ohh. Mrs Gibbs was 88 years old and died of lung cancer, which she only had for two months. Just a little bit of colour on your cheeks. Not too much, cos you are really holding your colour so beautifully. I talk to the tupapaku all the time. I feel it's important to get a good relationship with them. We may not have met whilst they're alive, but we've met in death. Well, I'm not dead, but the person's dead. And so it's good for our wairua to connect. You are one of the best-looking dead bodies I have ever had. I can't wait for them to come and see you. Mrs Gibbs has delayed her own funeral day because of her great-grandchildren. They've got exams on. And she wanted them to complete their exams. You know, they say, 'He kitenga kanohi, he hokinga mahara.' You know, when you see a face you haven't seen in a while, or a face that looks familiar, it takes you back to... back to a time and place or back to a person or people. And now, with these glasses on, let's hope that whakatauki helps you out. Mrs Gibbs looks stunning. She looks very much alive. She's got a beautiful smile, which is not exactly what I want. We don't actually want her to look alive. We don't want her to look dead, either. We want her to look somewhere in between. Cos it could confuse people. But she's doing what she likes. (QUIRKY MUSIC) (SNIFFLES) XL, large` Oh yeah, here he is. He can have this. Are you sure you got me a small? Yes, I did. So with Zumba, they've asked that we wear something pink to support the breast cancer signal. So I've organised nice bright pink T-shirts for everybody. Is there an XL? Yeah, there is. You want an XL? Whose is that one? Oh, they've p` I think they're already taken. Oh, no, that's OK. That's XL. Are you gonna wear it? No. I've already got mine. I'm not gonna tell you my size. (KAIORA CHUCKLES) I guess it's for the cause. So I think anything that promotes a cause, and especially around the field of breast cancer, we're absolutely into it. I feel like this is too tight. No, it's fine. Well, who's gonna wear that one? Stan? No, Stan's gonna have this. We've asked for all of us, both male and female staff members, to attend the Zumba fundraiser. But I have a feeling that I'll be the only male staff member there. Mm. (QUIRKY MUSIC) Today is the funeral service day for Ivy May Gibbs. OK, I'm just gonna remove this here. Mrs Gibbs is going to be cremated. And at the moment she's in two caskets. The outer casket is a solid pine wood, and the inner casket is a MDF liner casket. OK, dear, I'm gonna put your final... This little top for us. There we go. A lot of families are choosing this way of cremation. They have the outer casket as a lovely look with the flowers to adorn the lid. Then at the end, privately, we'll take the inner casket out to be cremated. (BAGPIPES PLAY 'AMAZING GRACE') A nice slow walk. Nice slow walk. Beautiful. Ivy wanted everyone to be wearing bright colours for her funeral. So I'm wearing my blue suit and a bright orange tie to go with Mrs Gibbs' wishes. ('AMAZING GRACE' CONTINUES PLAYING) Family and friends, we're gathered here today to celebrate and remember the life of Ivy Gibbs. I'm Ivy's great-grandson, and I hope that you will not mind me referring to Ivy as Nan or Supernan throughout the service. I've got nothing but admiration for her great-grandson, Zeald. Cos to be able to fully officiate, the strength that one must have to have to uphold oneself and also the mana of the service, that's incredible. And I don't think I've seen anything like it unless it's been a priest that's related in the family or a minister. I would now like to invite Nan's great-grandson Campbell to play on his saxophone. (PLAYS 'AMAZING GRACE') At the funeral I learnt that Mrs Gibbs lived alone. She was quite independent, quite a character, and she did own a big Ford Falcon back in the days when she was driving. (SAXOPHONE CONTINUES PLAYING 'AMAZING GRACE') At the end of Ivy's service, her casket will be lowered on the catafalque, after which I'll accompany her to the crematorium. (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) Rest in peace, Supernan. (SOBS) (BIRDS CHIRP) (SOMBRE MUSIC) Everyone thinks they drive well. (HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRR, POLICE RADIO CHATTER) But I've never seen anyone crash well. (MACHINERY WHIRRS) MAN: Oh, that speed's fine along here. I know these roads. I know these roads pretty well too, and I'm doing everything in my power to stop you from seeing the things I've seen on them. * (PLAYFUL MUSIC) Our Henderson branch is undergoing a renovation and a bit of a spruce-up. Hey, dear, do you think this is OK just there? Is that awkward? Mm. Denise Radovanovich is in charge, and she runs a pretty tight ship over there. We've gotta send` All these documents go with the application for cremation. OK, so I've done` I've started it. Yeah. And we've also got Barbie there, who's an energetic young new receptionist. I wanted to know, dear, if you could vacuum over here, and then just get this all sorted. Barbie. Barbie? Yeah, I'm coming. I was talking to myself, dear. Oh, yeah, that's what you do out Henderson, you talk to yourself. Oh, here she is. But you didn't answer yourself. No. I love Denise and Barbie and the energy that they bring together. They're an awesome team. They... bounce off one another. They banter a lot. But Denise, can you just stand at the front there so I can see how ugly you are from here? Oh, you know, girl. (LAUGHS) Barbie, she's full of life and very enthusiastic to learn our role as funeral directors as well, which is amazing. Do we ever have families who want their casket turned`? Sideways, yep. And you've still got the room for it. Yeah. Oh yeah. I am a little bit, sort of, worried that Francis will steal her from admin. Oh, I'm just loving the feeling every time I come here. You guys have got great energy. And I'm loving that I can have high fives out this way, you know? Wairua. Oh yeah, so yeah. Yay! Oh, and then hands in the middle. Henderson on three. One, two, three. BOTH: Henderson. Oh, you` Is it up or down? Make your mind up, man. It's up. Come on! OK, ready, on three. Let's get it right. Hurry up. One, two, three... BOTH: Henderson! (LAUGHS) (QUIRKY MUSIC) (SERENE MUSIC) I te rangi nei e tiaki ana matou i a Anaru Harley Young. Anaru is 34 years old, and he's had a heart condition for the last 10 years. This morning, Anaru's whangai sister Rachel has come to the funeral home in Henderson to take care of his make-up. (SERENE MUSIC) And what does he do with his lips? Oh gosh. I mean, when I say` You know, in terms of colour. All right, all right. You know, the natural look. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rachel's told me that her brother was very extra, uh, very over the top, and that he would want everything to be the way he wanted it to be. So, um, Francis is going to make sure that his hands are` We'll bring his hands up, uplifted in the casket, dear. Oh, ka pai. So that we can see his ring. And I'll just put some packing under here, under his elbows, to bring it up kia penei tona takoto. Oh, i roto i tona pouraka? Ae. Ae. Ae, ka pai. Ka pai. Rachel's asked me to place a ring on Anaru's finger. And the whanau have asked if his hands can be viewed. Just try that one, dear. I'll just go up under. In America, they have a special little tool which is placed on the wrists of the deceased, the tupapaku. But in New Zealand, we don't supply those here. And so, um, we've gotta figure out other ways to make it happen. We should... Put a double-sided tape on the inside of his hand so it sticks to the top of the other one. Yeah? Where do you want it, dear? In the palm of his hand. Oh yeah. What about under there? Yeah, if I just put some under there. SOFTLY: Beautiful. Oh my goodness. Voila. Goodness. Anaru is all ready, looking glamorous in his casket. You've got this young man with this velvet tracksuit on, golden, shimmering casket. It's a very New York. (GUITAR PLAYS 'TE HOKINGA MAI') # ...i te aroha. # Tu tonu ra... # I literally am so surprised that they want the gold casket. I'm not surprised they want the colour gold, cos that suits his personality. I'm surprised that they want that style of casket with the half lid coming up like that. # Mauria mai # te mauri tangata. Generally, in a marae, if my chest was the back wall, the casket lies like this, and so whanau will sleep either side of the tupapaku. In this case, the casket is turned on its side. So the whanau will sleep at the head end and the foot end, and they'll pay their respects by coming forth front on. And so I'm a little bit excited and taken away by that. # ...i te ara tika # mo tatou # katoa. # Te Hokinga Mai, # Te Hokinga Mai. # Tu tangata tonu. # * Today I'm in Mt Albert, and I've come to Anaru's apartment to uplift him and to take him to the Haranui Marae. Just waiting for his hand to slap me and say, 'Why have you got double-sided tape on my hand?' (LAUGHTER) That's what it is, to hold his hands together, cos they naturally wanna come down. His hands have sort of slipped away from this clever adhesive idea I had, and so now I've needed to reposition his hands to get them ready for presentation at the marae. (GENTLE MUSIC) Haranui Marae is about 25 minutes out of Auckland city, and so we've arrived there this morning to lay Anaru in his whare tupuna. And did you bring the trolley? Yes, it's in here. And I've got a purple thing,... OK. ...cloth to put over it. Beautiful. Part of me is wondering about some people of the kainga, of the marae with their whakaaro on him and the manner in which he's laying this way. But Anaru's nan, Whaea Koromiko, has already explained it all. And she's one of only two wahine that have stood and spoken on the marae, so she holds a lot of mana and has a lot of pull and say. (KAIKARANGA CALLS) Haere mai! Haere mai! Haere mai! CHANTS: A, toia mai! MEN CHANT: Te waka! Ki te urunga. Te waka! Ki te moenga. Te waka! Ki te takoto rungai takoto ai, te waka! Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora, ka ora! Ka mate, ka mate. Ka ora, ka ora! Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru... I said to my wife, should I die, and should you, sweetheart, be able to afford me an American casket, I want to go on a marae that way too. (MOURNERS SING IN MAORI) Anaru will lay in state on the Haranui Marae for two nights. Wonderful. Yes. As is very normal with all the Maori whanau, they will take care of transporting their tupapaku from the marae to the urupa. And from this point, my job is done here. (QUIRKY MUSIC) Are we ready to Zumba? We are. Zumba! (LAUGHTER) I've never done Zumba before. All I know, it's dancing and exercising to music. And so, you know, that's all I know. That way? Yes, straight. Why am I going in the right lane? Because you're gonna turn at the end of this roundabout, dear. Gonna go right. Whakarongo taringa, mate. (LAUGHTER) I love doing things as a staff. It's neat, where we can really bond and get together as a whanau. I can see KFC as well. No. Don't look there. Be ourselves outside of mahi environment. Just imagine if we did go and eat now. We would not go to Zumba. No way. Well, it makes sense we should, cos it will burn all the fat. Oh, whatever. (LAUGHTER) We'll be, like, spewing it all up. This is a beautiful cause. I love that we're going to support this kaupapa. Ooh, I love it. Oh wow! (PEOPLE CHATTER, MUSIC PLAYS) I like it, eh. I love that. There's quite a bit of excitement. Everyone's all hyped ` both the staff and all the people that have turned up. And there's a good sense of unity. Don't forget, if you forget the moves, you just twerk. (LAUGHTER) I can feel the girls really wanting to do this. I'm not sure about my darling, though. I think he feels a little bit out of place. So just a bit of self-check stuff. How do we know what's going on in our breasts? The first one is we need to touch our breasts. We need to touch both of them. Right, everybody, put your right hand up here to see if there's anything different, see any changes. FIONA: We deal with all sorts of cancer patients that come through. It's always great to check the symptoms. You know, a lot of us island ladies tend to think that it's just normal to have lumps in unusual places, but we really need to be more serious with our health and go and get checked. (BASSY MUSIC PLAYS) We have some natural dancers in our staff. Vanessa, she's very natural. And, um, Denise is a nice, natural dancer as well. But actually, Fehi's not too bad, you know. Whoo! Go, Nona! Whoo-hoo! I can see Francis dancing ` or trying to dance ` on the right-hand side of me, and I just find myself laughing, pissing my pants. (GENTLE, COMIC MUSIC) I find some of the moves quite, sort of, Dirty Dancing type moves. It's hilarious watching him because he's got baby on him, and he's trying to, you know, get up all in there. Are you twerking? (MUSIC PLAYS) Ohh! Oh yeah. (LAUGHS) I don't normally like exercise, but Zumba is, um, exciting, um, groovy. The sounds and the beats really get you, you know? It's nice to be able to move with them. So I would do it again, get us to do it again if we could. Cos it didn't feel like exercising; it was a lot of fun. Captions by Tracey Dawson. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020.