Captions by Jessie Puru. Edited by Michaela Cornelius. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 (LIGHT, PLUCKY MUSIC) - High five. Today, Baby Francis has come to work. He's not allowed to go to day care cos he's feeling a little bit under the weather. - Mwah! - Mwah! Good boy. But as soon as he comes in, he's dancing away and singing with Lync to the music on the guitar. - # ...wheels on the bus go round and round, # round and round, # round and round. - You know, music does bring a bit of harikoa to our tamariki, and our pepi just... He loves it. The dancing, I'd say he gets it from me. The singing, oh, that's all his dad's side. - Tupato. Whoa! Good boy. It's really nice to have a walk with the pepi on the street in the middle of a working business day ` walking to and from the different branches. (SPEAKS MAORI) Hmm? - Not often do we get to have our tamariki come with us to mahi, and, when they do, we like to have our little moments with our pepi. I know Papa would have appreciated that. - Last time he, sort of, was at work, we were carrying him most of the places in our baby carrier ` in our pack ` so now that he can walk, life's just that much better. Mama. Mm-hm. Mama. - It just seems like we're always at mahi, and I hope that, in the future, our tamariki will be able to see what we put in place for them, and they can look back and actually see that Mum and Dad... worked a lot and put a lot of mahi in for them. - Come. Come. (BRIGHT MUSIC) (SOMBRE MUSIC) Today, in our care, we have Blake Isaac Wai Ariki James Heather, and he is 16 years old, and he has died due to a suspected seizure. Blake has only ever had two seizures in his life, and so his death was quite sudden and very unexpected for his whanau. - Looks really good. - He does. Eh? - He does. - Hopefully (SPEAKS MAORI). A little bit of colour, (SPEAKS MAORI). - You wouldn't even know he's got make-up on. - Ka pai. All right, we'll place him in, eh, dear? It's so different with someone so young in front of you when we're used to seeing people who have lived a life. Any child that we look after that is around the same age as my tamariki; you're always going to relate and compare, and it's a little bit different. It's so much closer to your ngakau than possibly someone who's lived a beautiful, long life. - When I come across our rangatahi, it hits home for me, because I too have a young tamaiti who is of... almost the same age, and I can't help but think, as a mother, what it could be like to also lose a tamaiti. So I feel really aroha for this whanau, especially for his mum. Mm. It just tells me that anything can happen. But, you know, Blake's mum is with us today, and she's showing some true kaha to be here, some true mana to be here, and wanting her son to go home. - That was his favourite top. He used to wear it 24-7. - Did he? - He was like, 'rush me a top'. I was like, 'OK.' And his favourite Dickies pants, and... Yeah. That was his favourite hat. He looks a lot better now than what he was in before. - FRANCIS: That looks awesome. - (SPEAKS MAORI) - It was lovely to have his uncle, Shannon Leilua there. He is also an apotoro ` a qualified apotoro of Te Haahi Ratana. So he brings a beautiful wairua for us and for Blake's journey to head home. Ae. - Well, without further ado, (SPEAKS MAORI). Our aroha to you all. We couldn't... We cannot even begin to imagine. We all have teenagers, and so we don't know what you're going through, but we want you to know that it was our privilege to look after your tamaiti, dear. Tena koe. Tena koe. - There's no greater tribute than to tautoko, and Francis grabs his guitar, and gives tautoko by singing Blake and his whanau to the hearse and sends them on their journey. - # E whaka-whero-whero # i te putahitanga. # (SPEAKS MAORI) * (QUIRKY CLASSICAL MUSIC) - My husband has been complaining for a while now about a new leaf blower. He has, you know, begged about having the superpower backpack one. I feel like I should surprise him with a new electric leaf blower with a battery. - Hello. - Hi. I'm walking in, and I see... Ah! ...all the toy gadgets. You could easily get caught up into wanting almost anything here. So I'm glad to come by myself, cos, oh, my husband probably would have taken as much as he could have out of there. It's a good thing he's not here with me today. (LEAF BLOWER REVS) Oh, wow. - So that's suitable for... - Feel like I've got a gun in hand, eh? (LEAF BLOWER WHIRRS) - (LAUGHS) For a small area, a small townhouse ` that type of thing. - Oh, it's for a small townhouse. - The beauty of this is it's light, and it's simple to use and very, very quiet. - Easy. That's good! So the salesman ` he's showing me all these types of leaf blowers, right? Oh my gosh. Look at that! That's` That's a machine, isn't it? - So, again` - I can blow the whole street. - And you can feel the power coming out of that one. (LEAF BLOWER WHIRRS) I` I knew it was the one. - Did you want to take one for a walk, give it a go outside? - Oh my gosh, is that OK? - You want to? Why don't we do that? - Really? - Yeah! It's all right. (LEAF BLOWER WHIRRS) - (LAUGHS) It's blowing stones. He's gonna love that. I'm worried I'm gonna blow your pebbles out of the way. - That's all right. We'll get in more. - Oh my gosh! I just want to make sure it's blowing something because my husband has a habit of not blowing anything. He just has this thing about just blowing, and, sometimes, it's just nothing. That's a beautiful surprise for my husband. I think he's gonna appreciate that one. - Probably. (BRIGHT MUSIC) (SOMBRE MUSIC) - Today, in our care, we have a whaea who is suspected to have passed away around about two and a half months to three months ago. JAY: And she wasn't found until a couple of days ago. So, today, I'm going to try and restore some dignity and give her the send-off that she deserves. - What I learnt about Whaea is that at family weddings and funerals and gatherings ` Whaea was always the one in the kitchen behind the scenes, feeding the people, preparing the kai, making sure everything was running smoothly. So she was independent and recluse in her own way, but still managed to be part of family gatherings. This is the first time anyone's been able to acknowledge Whaea ` mihi to her. Before we place her on the table, we'll have a little prayer just for her, because this will be the first time someone's been in contact with her for over a couple of months, eh? Let us bow our heads in prayer. Our most gracious and eternal Father in Heaven. As we give thanks to Thee for being able to receive our beloved Whaea, we ask for blessing upon the hands that will prepare her body now, more importantly, Jay and all the funeral directors and staff, that we may do the best we can, keeping her integrity and dignity intact. These things we ask, and this is our prayer, we say unto Thee in the name of Thy son and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amene. Thank you, e hoa. I'll help you place her. Is it this table here? All right. And nice and gentle. Come on, dear. One, two, three. That's it. Take your time. There we go. Jay and I will prepare her body. We know that we will have a sealed casket because of the time frame of her death, and then the family will be able to spend some time with her in our chapel. (FRANCIS SPEAKS MAORI) (BRIGHT MUSIC) (QUIRKY MUSIC) Up in the staff offices in Hill St, the staff were complaining that there wasn't enough light for them to do their mahi up there. So that's fair enough. So we've organised to have some more lights ` just some plain whites put in there to brighten up the space. So, the electricians went about their business without me knowing, and they said they should have the lights installed and ready to go by the end of the day. - Francis! - Yes? - I need to show you something. What do you think of my lights? - Boring. - Oh. Boring, you reckon? - Oh dear. Why have we put six lights in here, and you've got boring` This is the same colour as we have in the mortuary` Look at my lights. - As the mortuary? - See, my lights are warm. - Warm? - Yeah, see? Warm. Yours is cold. - Like ice. - Like ice. Like my heart. - Pretty spot on. - Can you` (LAUGHS) Can you grab your guitar? - She's asked me to grab the guitar. Ah, now that's not Steph. She doesn't sing. She surely doesn't want me to sing to her. So I'm just figuring out what is, you know... What's this about? - Play us a waiata. - Mum! Sweetheart! Steph's going to sing and dance. - Sing and dance? - Why am I playing the guitar? - Just play it for me, please. - OK. What song do you want? - Give us romance. For your wahine. (GUITAR STRUMS) - # Taa-aa... # Oh, oh, oh. Maybe not a hymn. Whoa! Dear. - I said romance! - Oh, sorry. And now I find myself playing the guitar to the theme of these lights in the show that is happening before me in the staff office ceiling. (SIGHS) (SLOW GUITAR SONG) - Am I supposed to I feel like I'm at a disco with these lights? - Romanced. - OK. - OK, we'll take you to a sunset. - FRANCIS AND KAIORA: Whoooa! - (LAUGHS) - Give us a bit of party rock anthem. (UPBEAT GUITAR SONG) - Aue. Now I feel like I'm at Matatini. (LAUGHS) - # E karanga e te iwi e. - Ooh! (LAUGHTER) This is neat. - # Kua eke mai nei. - STEPH AND FRANCIS: # Kua eke mai nei. # Ki runga te marae e. # - Wow. - Beautiful, eh? - Mean! - What do you reckon? - Man. How neat. How clever. And straight away, I thought about my chapel. I thought, (GASPS) 'These are a waste for in here.' We need to line them down the middle of the chapel ` to light up the chapel with favourite colours and moods and whatever else we need to do. It'll be so beautiful. So beautiful. (ALL CHANT) - The planet doesn't know which stuff you're doing just because you can't say no. So start at the bottom of your list and cross a few things off. * (PLUCKY MUSIC) (BOTTLE SPLURTS) - Mmm. Look at that cheese. Look at that. So good. Mmm! - One of Fehi's favourite foods is a sausage, and, you know, if she's having a bad day or if something's happened to her, I can cheer her up, or anyone can cheer her up, by giving her a sausage. The main thing is if you want Fehi to work hard and well, you just feed her. She can go through sausages like... phoo! - Oooh! How did you know that I'd want some early in the morning? - Francis said you were cranky. - Hmm? - Francis said you were cranky, so he knew you were hungry. - Thank you, dear. - Enjoy your sausies. - Oh, I will, dear. I will eat slowly. - How's your stomach? Are you hungry yet? - Not yet. - We don't want to hear a rumbling on our way out to the cemetery. We want to last a while. We want to last today. - I'll have a sausage afterwards. - OK. Next door, there's this take-away shop, you see? She always goes there. You can tell that if there's no more left; she's bought them all. So she has a thing for sausages. - Yeah. Fehi and sausages sort of worry me, eh? I mean, food sausages, that is. Yes. I've never seen a girl that can eat sausages day and night. I'm like, 'Come on, Fehi.' You know, when she went to Tonga, that's all she spoke about ` was hot dogs. Well, hot dogs, they were just like the normal bologna-type sausages. And I was like, 'What's so good about them?' - I'm going to have some more sausages before I go. - JAY: Dispose of all the evidence. What happens at this branch stays at this branch. - That's right, dear. That's right. Bye, Jay! - She can eat any kind of sausages. - Big ones, little ones. - Round, small, cold, hot ` she'll eat it. - This will be my last one for this week. I'm going to be on a diet next week ` no more sausages. (BRIGHT MUSIC) - Oh my gosh. Are you serious? - Yes, I am. - Is this the electric one? - Yeah, it is. - Oh, wow. - The day has come for me to surprise him, and, oh man, I'm feeling so nervous, cos I don't know if he's going to like it. I don't know. - I've got this pink bow. - Are you serious? - Yeah. - Why don't we wrap it in a big box to disguise it? - You reckon? No, no, no. We're going to show him with the ribbon. He can take the ribbon off. - Yes, look, now we don't have to struggle to turn it on, Steph. - Let me show you. So, look. (LEAF BLOWER WHIRRS) (ALL LAUGH) - We put a bit of confetti on the ground. - It doesn't suck. It blows! - I know! I want to see it blow. - Ready? (WHIRRS) Anei. Look, I know now that if the girls love it, Francis is going to love it. - Hi. - Hi. I'm just going to` - Come over here. - Where did you go? - I want to go get my` - Did you get your hair done? - Yes. - Is that we're you're going? - Yes. Can you run upstairs and get my brush? - It was just` trying to get it from behind the door to bringing it out, and showing him. Hey! How do I bring it out, though? Do I just bring it out? Or do I just... Just bring it out. - (GASPS) - Whoo-hoo! (ALL CHEER) - Ohh! (LAUGHTER) - Do you like it? - Yeah, I do. Just` - Not with the pink ribbon. - Sweetheart! - Yes? - How much did this cost? - Oh, that's not an issue. You've been so good, you know? Look at what you're doing. You're beautifying the place. You're setting up Princes St, and I just thought I'd surprise you with... - And you're taking us to lunch. (LAUGHTER) - After this. - So, out of nowhere, my wife pulls out this... Stihl electric blower. She's like, 'Here you go!' And I'm like, (SIGHS) 'You bought it without me?' You know, that's OK, but I was just like, 'Oh!' So over the moon. That's awesome. I just want to see how long the battery lasts. That's always the case. You got another one? Two batteries they usually come with. - I got three batteries. - See? So you'll never run out of power. - I lied about the batteries. - All I want to say is thank you, sweetheart. And I know all of you did it together as a whanau. But` No, there's no buts. But the beautiful thing about this is that it's not only, like` You guys can use it too. (LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE) - What if we don't want to? (LAUGHS) - The thing is it's good for everyone. See, Vanessa, she can pick it up. I mean, she's pregnant, so she's going to get really big, and she can just pull the trigger. No need to` Anyone can pull the trigger. So there's no fumes. It's just plug and go, or plug and blow. (CHUCKLES) - I honestly hope he loved it. He says that he loves it. Yeah. - You know, I thought` I did think why she didn't get the other one for my back. You know, the bigger one, but never mind. It's electric, and I was just blown away that she even thought of me. About, you know, buying this. See, this is the way life's going. Everything's electric. (BLOWER WHIRRS) What you do is you blow it, then you suck it. (LAUGHTER) - We did that, didn't we? - At the end of the day, I know you guys think, 'Oh, he's so over top,' but, as we all know, cleanliness is next to... - ...godliness. - Mm-hmm. We needed to see how powerful it was. So I just wanted to feel that pressure against my face just to see if it was any good. (BLOWER WHIRRS) What do you think? - I know that look on your face doesn't say that it's strong enough. His expression wasn't really, 'Yay!' It was (SIGHS). - Let's try one more time. (BLOWER WHIRRS, AIR WHOOSHES) - No. - Do that one more time. (LAUGHS) - Dear, it's serious. If it can't blow me over... It's got to be able to push the rubbish. - I knew what he meant. He wanted his mouth to be, you know, (BABBLES) like that. But it didn't, kind of. So I had to go closer. (BLOWER WHIRRS, AIR WHOOSHES) - No, yeah, that's good. - (LAUGHS) - You're silly. Well, the thing is this, e hoa. I don't actually like it, you know? But I don't want to be, you know, this ungrateful hua of a husband, because actually it's not really about me. I think it's about all the staff, because if I was her, she should've` and she should know not to do surprises to me. But, you know, this is again` see if you can see where I am. If you were my wife, you'd go, 'What a hua! What an ungrateful...' but what I'm trying to say is, Let me help... Let me buy my own surprise.