(MUSIC BECOMES ELEGANT CHAMBER MUSIC) Captions by Joshua Tait. Edited by Maeve Kelly. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 (BELL TOLLS) (SOMBRE MUSIC) (SOFT SNIPPING) Today, I need to remove a pacemaker from a gentleman who we have in our care. Kia ora, Henry. Just going to... move this over here for now. 'Every now and then, I'll need to remove a pacemaker from someone.' For this gentleman here, at the last minute, the family changed their mind from burial to cremation. And when you're cremating someone, they cannot have a pacemaker. OK, Matua. I'm just going to make a little incision here so we can take out your pacemaker so that we can have our cremation on Thursday and you don't blow up the crematorium. If a body goes into the cremator with a pacemaker or a biomechanical aid, there is the potential that it could blow up and damage the cremator and its surroundings. SOFTLY: All right, Matua. Here we go. Just gonna cut around there, and we'll bring it out so that we can get rid of it for you. In this instance, it's protruding, so it's quite visible and easy to see. We'll need to check if there is any tissue attached to the pacemaker. If so, we'll incise that to make it become available and then remove the pacemaker from the body. Just gonna take this out here, Matua. We're nearly done. - (HUMS GENTLY) - (SOFT SCRAPING) I hum to cover up any noises, any... squeamish sort of sounds that might affect me during the operation of the removal of the pacemaker. We just hum so that the gentleman and I, we put ourselves at ease. (HUMS) There we go, Matua. It's all done. Oh my goodness. (HUMS) Once I've removed the pacemaker, I just need to suture the incision up, put some Micropore Tape on it, which is much like a skin-looking plaster, and then we're all good to go. (HUMS) The procedure went really well, and now this gentleman can go and be cremated without any issues. (LIGHT THEME MUSIC) So, yeah, which ta'ovala are we going to wear together? So we've got quite a selection. Fehi's my go-to for all things Tongan. And you just tell me which one is appropriate for death. Not that one. No. OK. So you just come through. Not these two. Not these two. Francis has favourites with the staff (WHISPERS) all the time. It's very difficult for me to talk about. Well, because... you could be number one today, and tomorrow, you know, you might not be. So, this is for the removal. We need a different one for the service and a different one to take to the airport. Are you for real? Well, we can't go looking the same every day. (LAUGHS) Francis has so many. It changes on a daily basis. Lync Hetaraka's a young man who we've employed, and I've known his family for a long, long time. Lync has become one of Francis' favourites. Lync has a very good eye for detail, and when he washes the cars, I have to question who washed it, because he does such a good job. I like to believe I'm his favourite all the time, but I don't think I can be. Maybe in certain moments ` maybe when I allow him to buy things, I'm the number one for that moment. Foliki ` he's always in my heart, you know what I'm saying? But at the moment, Fehi's my number one. (LIGHT THEME MUSIC) Birth and date of death is correct. Today in our care, we have Elizabeth 'Betty' Southey, but everybody called her Betty. And she's 83 years old. (PENSIVE MUSIC) Betty died due to renal failure and heart disease. Hey, dear. Betty had amazing curls, and Fehi is amazing at curling hair. She will work her magic, and she will make Betty beautiful. Betty, man, look at those curls. I can't do my hair like this. OK, how we going? Just missing a letter. Oh, yep. You got it right here. 'Auimatagi'. Oh, sorry. Mm-hm. OK. Change that to 'Betty'. Take that` 'Betty'. Yep. My cousin Nardine was very close to Betty. Nardine was brought up next door to Betty, and so from 4 years old, Betty was like another mother to Nardine. And so she's going through her mamae, as one would expect. (LIGHT THEME MUSIC) What was that? Oh, right. Take it off, eh? OK, ready? One, two, three. There we go. When new caskets arrive, it's terribly exciting. It's just like unwrapping a darn present. Fiona will love it, eh? Mm! Not my flavour. Not mine either, but Fiona will like it. When the caskets are on display, they must always look beautiful, cos at any minute, anyone could walk through the front door, ready to arrange a funeral. So we need to have the place ` and the caskets, more importantly ` shiny, ready and beautiful. I just wanna see how Jesus will fit in. Oh my goodness. Which way? This one? Mm. 'Lync is good with finer things ` (SIGHS) the detail as well.' I mean, it's` For someone so young, I'm just` Like, I'll always double` I'll always question him, because he'll say, 'Oh, Francis, we should do it like this,' and I'll say, 'No, give it here. Give me a look. 'Oh, no, we should do it like that.' Like, there? Yeah. Ohhh, yeah. Yes, you're right, actually, to be honest. Oh... Moeps, eh? Moeps. (LAUGHS) Fehi calls Lync 'Moeps', which is shortened for 'moepipi', which in the Samoan language means 'little (BLEEP)'. Oh, Moeps, eh? Moeps has got it all. I think the staff do get a bit, sort of, jealous when they're not the number one for the day. Thank you, Fehi, for your idea. I loved it. Oh, no, that was Moeps, eh? Thanks. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) * Today is the funeral day for Mrs Betty Southey. (GENTLE, MOURNFUL MUSIC) It's a packed house at the RSA, and so a lot of people have come today to pay their respects. It's an honour to stand before you and share some precious words about my mother. Mum would not want us to focus on her sadness of her passing. Instead, look at the happiness we all still have in our lives. You know, at funeral services, when you go to` and I go to many. And it's like... It's like a... a little, you know,... a one-hour service of how to live life, really. Nanna Betty would give me a purple $2 note and said that this was for my milkshake after school. Little did I know she did this to force me just to walk to the food bar where there was a crossing so I'd cross the road safely. You go to so many of them. You learn what to do, what not to do, how to do things better and what sort of people there are in this world. Rest in love, Nanna Betty, from your little Maori girl at 4 and 6 Peter Buck Rd. (BIRDS CHIRP) Betty's wish was to be cremated, and so we're at Waikumete, where the cremation will take place. Do you want her nameplate to keep? Yes. Yep. The family don't want to watch the cremation take place, so they're just gonna have a few moments, which will be their final time, then they'll leave. (LIGHT THEME MUSIC) (PLAYFUL MUSIC) I'm back at the Onehunga branch, and I'm not very happy, cos no one saved any of the pumpkin soup for me. FIONA: Fehi, tell him about the soup. FEHI: It wasn't that great. Don't lie. (LAUGHS) Nona made this pumpkin soup, and anything she makes is so yum. I know she would've added a ton of cream in there, which would've made it rich and creamy. Dear, I thought you were my number one. FEHI: What happened? You. What happened? No, I thought you were my number one. But...? No, I'm just saying, well, if we're number ones, you gotta save some lunch for me. (LAUGHS) When Francis is hungry, he's, like, unbearable. I'll just see what's upstairs. KAIORA: OK. I mean, there's no soup, but... (LAUGHS) The soup, it was only a little Crockpot. It wasn't even a litre. Francis. Francis. He's eating his 2 litres of Nutri-Grain. (LAUGHS) This Nutri-Grain tastes like pumpkin. (LAUGHS) I'm a little bit shocked that Fehi didn't think of me ` you know, putting some away ` cos she normally thinks, you know, of her boss. I mean, when the Tongans give her food, she always puts some away for me, you know? But, you know, it's not the end of the world. Just saying. Mm. (SOMBRE MUSIC) (RAIN PATTERS, WINDSCREEN WIPERS THUD SOFTLY) This morning, Fehi and I are on our way to do a removal. Sometimes people pass away at the hospital, at the hospice, and very often, they pass away at home. WOMAN: Kia ora. Kia ora. Morena. I te rangi nei e tiaki ana matou i te whaea ko Kay Greaves. Oh, it looks like she was presented and stayed beautiful for the whole night, eh? She did. Ohhh, wow. We were thankful. Mrs Greaves died yesterday at her home. She had lung cancer, and she was 81 years old. What we're going to do, Fehi and I and us as a family, we're going to` Probably, because of the access way, we'll place a stretcher out on the deck, and then we'll lift Mum on the sheet that she's on, just cos it moves easier through the doorways, rather than the big stretcher. And then we'll make our way to start preparing Mum. 'Fehi and I and the family have to come up with a plan' to be able to move Mrs Greaves from her room out into the stretcher with as much dignity and tiaki as we can. Can you clip that chair in, dear? Lovely. So, we'll take the pillow and that off, because she's already on one. 'The weather is not on our side, so the stretcher at the moment is remaining outside.' So, we've gotta just move carefully but quickly before the rain pours down, and I don't want Whaea's body to get wet. OK. Haere mai, whanau. OK. All right. Here we go. We're gonna go up on to the stretcher, and I'm gonna quickly place her on, because it's raining. There we go, Whaea. Down we go. Beautiful. Let's cover her up quickly. Haere mai. Just hold that up there so she doesn't get wet. Fortunately, Mrs Greaves is only very tiny, so manoeuvring her body is very easy, and what's nice is that the whanau are there. Beautiful. Now I'm gonna come out this way. Just hold on to the end of the stretcher. And just over to me` Yeah, that's beautiful. We got Mrs Greaves into the hearse with a little bit of sprinkle of rain but not a downpour like what happened just after we left, so it all went well. (UPLIFTING MUSIC) Mrs Greaves' family want to accompany her to our embalmer's. In the Maori world ` in the tikanga ` we believe that someone needs to be by the body all the time when necessary. ...this weather, eh, Harmony? Very shortly, Mrs Greaves' body will be returned to Papatuanuku, and at that point, we're gonna be separated from her. So these final hours for her upon this Earth are so important, so they wanna make sure that they're with her and that she gets the best care possible. Can you just give us a text or a call when you're washing down? And we'll come straight back, eh? Ae, ka pai. Oh, kia ora. Thank you, dear. Today, young Harmony will be embalming and taking care of Mrs Greaves. I really love Harmony's embalming, and I love the fact that we've got a young wahine looking after, you know, a kuia. There's that beautiful generational gap between the two of them, and Harmony will take care of Mrs Greaves, and Mrs Greaves will probably take care of Harmony too. It'll work both ways. - (HUMS) - (STAPLER CLACKS) Mrs Greaves' whanau have chosen a veneer rimu casket with a flat, matte finish, and it has these beautiful nickel handles with a small paua inlay in them, and they quite like that. You know, it represents her Maori heritage. There's a slipper just dropped on the ground. (FRANCIS, KAIORA CHUCKLE) My wife is very good at dressing, and she's lovely with our families. You know, a woman knows what a woman wants. KAIORA: Just straighten her collar. Yes. Yeah. Like this. And now you can button her shirt up. I love dressing. It's probably, I could say, one of the best... parts of this role that I enjoy. Yeah, place those slippers on. Are these her slippers here? Yeah. WOMAN: Yeah, we couldn't find the new ones that Dad said she had. Aww. Mum put the other ones away somewhere so well, we couldn't find them. It's the final moment that you can have, you know, really embracing your loved one, touching your loved one. And it's a blessing to do that. We know that you will smile because it's all coordinated well. So thank you, Mum, for this privilege. We're ready to casketise Mrs Greaves now, and she's looking very beautiful in her kakahu that the family have dressed her in. Oh. Titiro ki ana hiripa. Ae. Ataahua, ne? Ae ra. Taihoa. All right, Whaea. Oh my goodness. I love you cos you're so tiny, Whaea. I can lift you up all by myself. (CHUCKLES) Haere mai. I think it's so cute when someone's buried in their slippers, and very appropriate, because that's their final bed. We'll put this gold` This silver chain is quite neat, Whaea. He blingy hoki tenei chain. (CHUCKLES) Mm. Mm. Kia piata, ne? Now, have you got a rose for her? Ae. I want one of those big ones. Give her a big one, ne? Oh, yes. Those are my favourite roses, Whaea. I used to give them to my wife. Mm. I hardly see one these days. Yeah, I give them all away. Yes. Mm. (STAPLER CLACKS) OK. Mrs Greaves is from a marae ` an area down in Tongariro called Otukou Marae. Tera te ingoa o te urupa, ne? Ae, me te marae hoki. (EXCLAIMS SOFTLY) Mm. Otukou is in Tongariro. Oh. Yes. So she'll have a lovely view there. Whaea is looking beautiful in her casket. She's kua piata mai ` she's shining. And she looks beautiful. ALL: # Tama a # te Atua. When we sing a himene or a waiata, yes, it has a purpose of uniting us, but it also serves as a time for whanau to be able to cry without any awkwardness, to be able to mourn, to be able to express with the sound of waiata over the top of them. # ...nga hara... They absolutely can cry, because this is the time to do so, whilst we've got presence of waiata, of himene, with us. # ...enei here # kino # wakararu nei. ...this matua coming in the car with Fehi, OK? OK. Haere mai. One, two... Fehi will transfer Mrs Greaves back to the family home in Avondale for one more night, and then tomorrow the whanau will transfer Mrs Greaves back to Turangi themselves. (LIGHT THEME MUSIC) Is this car clean? Yep. Ask your little friend at the back here. (LAUGHS) Ask my number one. Oh. (LAUGHS) Don't you tell anyone I said that. You all right, Lync? Yep. We shouldn't have number ones. We should all be number one in our own right. Mm. All right, Lync? We brought you for your muscles, eh? Yeah. OK. He's not just a moeps. He's a muscle. Oh. (LAUGHS) He's a muscle moeps. He's your number-one moeps. (LAUGHS) Lync's good with helping out around the funeral home, but more importantly, he's good with helping us lift our heavy tupapaku. Oh. Oh no, we missed it, e hoa. Aw. So come back. Moeps, you missed it. Fehi. Yeah? Go back a little` Yeah. Oh, hang on. Wait there. Back a little bit, bro. Just forward gently. Beautiful. Chur. Everyone knows that I will bend over backwards for one of our staff, cos again, it's not a` it's not a boss-staff relationship. It is just a whanau, cos we have to operate like that. Oh, hold on, Whaea! (SUCKS TEETH) Oh, yeah, Fehi went slow. (CHUCKLES) FIONA: I take no notice of his favouritism, because at the end of it, he knows that I'm always gonna be his number one. (INHALES DEEPLY) Nona... (PLAYFUL MUSIC) Yes, she is, but, you know, we can't` we can't say that, cos it's gonna go to her head.