* (GENTLE THEME MUSIC) Captions by James Brown. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 (GENTLE MUSIC) Today we need to go shopping to get some flowers, or some plants, for the funeral home, and the fridge, and... anywhere else? No. Many would consider it strange to decorate the chiller where we store our tupapaku. But to me, it's an obvious choice to make their space as beautiful and as comfortable as possible. - My husband's at Flower Systems. It's almost like he goes on a shopping spree. He does. And, you know, you give him a budget. You just pray he sticks within that budget. - The Flower Systems shop is one of my favourite shops. - Good to see you. - It's so good to see you. Such a long time. It has been a long time. - To just get a few specific things, a couple of baskets to hang, and some plants and fauna for inside, so that we can place them inside the chiller for our tupapaku. Oh my goodness me. - Is that exactly what you're after? - Yes. - The problem with the Flower System shop is they have so many things there, so many vases and so many fake pot plants and foliage and flowers. - This here is piece that's been made up with using a basket, and then you can select your own foliage to go in there. - My husband doesn't disclose what he's going to shop for. He'll just say, 'Babe, I'm going to the Flower System shop.' - Hmm. - So with these, it's easy. You can get a combination, and then you can cable-tie those to the basket. - I just remembered that we needed plants for different areas of the Henderson branch, and we needed a couple more for some different empty spots on the ceiling. And so we might as well have done it while we're there, so we went to add a few extra things to our shopping kete, to help us beautify the funeral homes. Oh, that's so beautiful. That's what I love, all of this. - I mean, everything's beautiful, but I just` - I know, you love your greenery and flowers. - Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And hopefully the dead people love them too. It's so hard to leave there without getting a few extra things to help in... in your life. Mm. - I'll just look around here, dear. - OK. Because they're not real plants, and inside the pots we have a little oasis, I needed quite a bit of foliage and plants to hide that and to fill it up. - Those are so beautiful. - Aren't they? - Holy smoke. Yep. - There you go. - And you've got six of those? - Oh, yes, that's it. - This here's a really nice little bush. Six of those. Yeah, I think so. Six of those. Yeah, I got a little bit shocked when we needed, like, 12, and then six of this, and then, you know, four of this. So it sort of does all add up, and so sometimes it probably would be cheaper to go and buy a plant ` a living plant, rather than artificial ones. But the beautiful thing with artificial plants, e hoa, is that they never die. (GASPS) Wow. Chrome is the look at the moment that we've got up there. It got me straight away, dear. This is the one. - WHISPERS: It's not bad. - Could work? - Could work. - That's quite beautiful. - Could just soften it. - Just a couple of them, I think. Let's do that. That's all we ou need, yeah. - My husband has no filter when he's shopping. No filter. - Done. - Done? So it'll be 12 of those. - 12 of those, yeah. Everyone will be talking about, 'Oh, we saw how much you spent at the flower shop!' - Well, I haven't seen the bill, and I'm not surprised. - We try and be discreet about it all and just gently pay for it, and hopefully, you know, I try to slip the receipt into my pocket and worry about the problems later on. Thank you so much. I'm not sure Josie fully understood what I needed the plants for. - And then the guys were talking, and I thought they were talking about your kitchen fridge. - They said you were buying greenery. - No, sorry. You're getting really down to the final detail if you're wanting things for the kitchen fridge. - No, I'll leave the mince pies in the kitchen fridge But, yeah, this is for the... the dead body fridge. I get it. You know, for every ordinary person that is probably thinking about this, 'Oh, he's crazy. He's cracked What is he doing?' Well,... that's OK. Kei te pai tena. That's fine. I think the living might be laughing, but the dead will be smiling. (GENTLE MUSIC) (PEACEFUL MUSIC) Today in our care, we're looking after the late Nikita Taylor, who is 34 years old and has passed away of suicide. - Tenei mea whakamomori, ne? He... mea tino taumaha mo tatou. I think this is a kaupapa that's... very deep for everyone. We see whanau in their grief. They're in shock. We don't know the journey that this individual has lived. We don't know what they've been through. - Nikita is a beautiful lady. She has two children, a 15-year-old and a 10-year-old, and she's married to her husband as well. So the family decided to take care of preparing her make-up. - Get your colour back in now, and glow you up a bit, my sis. - I've never actually seen her get her make-up on. - I have. - It's a bit different at the moment, though. No, they'll be... - I didn't even get to teach her how to dance. She always begged me to teach her. - It was obvious that Nikita was going to look beautiful, whether we were going to apply make-up or the family were, because naturally she had a lovely ahua about her, and they did a beautiful job indeed. She looked stunning ` very, very stunning. Now that Nikita has been prepared and make-up been applied and she's been dressed, we've placed her into her casket, and Logan will take Nikita back to her whanau house to lay in state. * (WHIMSICAL MUSIC) Got Foliki to help me hang the new plants in the chiller. - Foliki? - Yeah. Yeah, I've bought some new pot plants. Cool, eh? So, we'll go have a look, eh, and see where we can place them in the fridge together. Is there anyone in there? - Yeah. - Oh, there is? - Three. - Are there three people in there? - Yeah. They're gonna be so happy when you put greenery in there. (CHUCKLES) They're probably looking around the room, going, 'Oh, this room is so boring.' Well, not any more. The idea is that we want to create a peaceful space where our tupapaku can wait. It's like a waiting lounge. Good afternoon, everybody. We just gonna move you just next door. I'm sorry to be annoying. I know you're probably going, 'Leave me alone.' Haere mai. Let's just move you just for a second while we make this room beautiful for you. Foliki's all sort of laughing about it all under his breath, wondering, why are we doing this? Do you know what else I think we need? Some blimmin' pictures on the wall. - Pictures? - Like, on each side, because it's still quite bare. What do you think? We just gotta get them hanging a little more naturally, because remember, they're not real. So it's up to us to give them a real feel. When they hang, our tupapaku will just love them. We'll cut the price tags off, before my wife sees them. - Can I just say that I still haven't seen the bill? Yeah, I still haven't seen it. It's probably a good thing. Otherwise I'd probably take it to another level. I don't wanna take it to another level, though. Ae. - So if you put one there and one in exactly the same place, we'll just have a look. Yeah, that's it. That's respectful. Yes. It's like the Garden of Eden, e hoa. Put this in here. That one's this way. Yeah, keep going around. Keep going around. Yep, like that. Oh my goodness. This is just phenomenal. Everyone will be wanting to come in here now. Even you want to come in here. As we turn the chiller on, we notice something like a tornado or hurricane, where our plants are blowing and spinning around, and it's just not calming, and it's not peaceful at all. We should have thought about this before you hung it, to put it so it's not in front of the fan. Did you think about that? I didn't. - Nah, I didn't. - So, yeah, we need to go back to the drawing board and figure out a few things. (GENTLE MUSIC) (POIGNANT MUSIC) Today is the final funeral service for Nikita, and we will be uplifting Nikita from her home in Papakura and then driving her for a short drive down to the Salvation Army church, where we'll gather together to celebrate her life. This church in particular, the Salvation Army church in which her service was held, was special and important to this family. In Nikita's last few years of her life, she dedicated a number of hours of her life and time towards the church, to build it and also to help others who were struggling. It's always a sad time where someone's trying to help someone else, like Nikita, when she needed the help. - For all of this is a difficult time, as we mourn the sudden loss of Nikita, who was so dearly loved. We are grateful for the opportunity to express our grief and to support each other in that, and I encourage you to grieve as you need to grieve. - And one of the things that's always hard to gauge is the number of mourners who might attend a funeral. In this instance, the family anticipated a certain number, but it was far exceeded with the number of people who attended the service. We've arrived at the Mangere Lawn Cemetery, where Nikita will be laid to rest with her mother. Upon our arrival, as we carry Nikita to her final resting place, to be joined with her mum, the boys from Wesley College perform a wonderful haka to pay tribute to Nikita and to her whanau. - Kia mau! - Hi! (BOYS PERFORM HAKA) (WEEPING) - In committing the body of Nikita to God, we do so with deep reverence, for the body that was so lovingly created by him was the temple of a unique and loved personality. That body now returns to the earth from which it came. But her spirit lives on. - No reira, haere ra, e ko. Haere ki te kapunipunitanga o te wairua. * (WHIMSICAL MUSIC) - Today is Fehi's surprise 30th birthday party, which the funeral home and her colleagues are putting on. And so it was a bit of a task to keep her away from our Princes Street branch, as we needed to set it up and decorate it. We managed to do that with a few white lies, you know. She's here. - ALL: Surprise! - (LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE) - Oh my God! Why did you lie to me? # Hari huritau ki a koe. # Hari huritau ki a koe. - I was surprised. I was overwhelmed. Speechless, really. # Hari huritau ki a koe. # - (APPLAUSE) - Happy birthday! - Fehi is valuable to us. She's valuable to her people. Mm. Oh, look, Fehi, you are a blessing to all of us. You show so much humility in your mahi. The whole of your culture comes and flourishes through you. We can all feel that from you when you do tiaki tupapaku. - Uh, yeah, happy birthday, Fehi. - Yeah! - (LAUGHTER) - Yeah, we got to find you a husband, eh? - (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - I guess I'm like a sister to you too. I guess I fit into that category. I'm glad you've got a partner in crime. We can sneak off and have spicy sausages together. (LAUGHTER) - Yes, our Fehi, she's still single. But Francis and I, we're working on that. - I think the aim of the game for Fehi is to find herself a loin. Let's not aim for the frogs. Find yourself a lion ` someone that will protect you, will provide for you, will be your hunter and gatherer. - I think he's wanting to hook her up with his hairdresser. Mm. So he can get free haircuts, I think. (GENTLE MUSIC) Today, we are caring for Mr Victor Rapata, who passed away at Middlemore Hospital from cancer. And I'll be meeting with the family and assist them with dressing. Beautiful. Chur. Oh, here he comes. I can just see my husband. My husband, you know, he does come along, he will always have... a pick at something. - Has he got make-up on? - Yes. Yeah, I can tell. - It's all about him wanting to do the best for whanau. Oh. He's been waiting. Haere mai, whanau. Haere mai. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - I'll give you guys a moment, eh? I'll be back shortly. - Yeah. I'm just outside. (DOOR CLOSES) Dressing with the whanau is always a privilege. Ready to place his kakahu on? Yeah, OK. Ka pai. 'I love dressing with whanau.' (CHUCKLES) This is a joint mahi that we can do together. Yeah? Bring his hands up here. It's the last service you can do for your loved one, and that is to dress them. So they all appreciated to be part of that process. It's a funeral day. It's a funeral service that we're reading. And the whanau have decided to hold the service in our chapel before proceeding to the crematorium. - Kia inoi matou. E to matou Matua i te rangi, kia tapu tou ingoa. Kia tae mai tou rangatiratanga. Kia meatia tau e pai ai ki runga i te whenua. - I've given the task to Fehi to drive us out to Manukau Memorial Gardens. (GENTLE MUSIC) - We've arrived to the crematorium, and we're early, which is awesome. The whanau, they know they're coming to their final moments with Victor. Because we're early, we've opened up the boot, and we've, you know, asked them to have some final moments with him. It's not often a popular choice to view the charge ` they call it view the charge ` or to view your loved one being cremated. There's many out there that won't choose that option. But you will get the minority that want to see that process. It may bring closure for them. I feel their aroha. I feel their mamae. I feel their grief. And I'm thankful that I could be there for them. E te rangatira e Victor, takoto mai ra i roto i te rangimarie. - My wife is about to enter the building, so I'm feeling a little bit nervous. I've got Lync in to help me, and we're going to readjust the plants in the chiller so that they're not blowing everywhere like a tornado. That's better. Yeah. Be as exact as you possibly can. So along with the plants, we've also got some LED candles. We're gonna hang a couple of art pieces on each side of the wall, just to try and create a more warmer space for our tupapaku in such a cold environment. - Oh, see? - Every time you step in here,... - (GIGGLES) It doesn't like me. - ...things fall to pieces. (GROANS) Man! Come and have a look. - OK? - Want me to check it? - Yeah. - See if it likes me or not. - Oh, there we go. - Oh, how pretty. And then, what, 20 more candles? It'll look like a shrine. - Maybe one more, because it's then like Father, Son, Holy Spirit? Three, like the Godhead? - Shall we show Kaiora? - Yep. Time has come to invite my wife in to deliver this beautiful creation to her and to see her reaction. What do you think? - It's decorated. Is that art in there? - Tell her all about it. I don't know anyone who decorates a fridge. You know? (LAUGHS) - She just laughs and laughs and laughs. And... But I'm still not sure what that means at the moment. If you're cold, just look at the candles, and you get warm. I think the main thing is that the people in here know that they're loved by their family out there. - Oh, you've got kupu on your art. - Ae. And then after some explanation, whakamaramatanga, for our creation in the chiller, she comes around and she understands why we would do that, and why I needed to purchase all the plants. Mm. - Oh, darling. Yeah. You're amazing. - Shouldn't laugh, dear. - (CHUCKLES) No, don't worry, lots of people laugh. Until they're in it, and they're silent.