Francis offers to get on his knees to help lay floor tiles & the Stanley Neho Function Centre opens with a big celebration.
Māori funeral directors Francis and Kaiora Tipene and staff temper good humor with care and respect as they help Polynesian families cope with loss.
The Tipenes expand their office and brood as Francis enjoys new toys and a slimmer body and the staff handle a disinterment and a child's funeral.
If a reed stands by itself it may break, but if in a group, it will be unbreakable
You shall be mourned by those you leave behind
A full cycle is completed
Let us stay close together, not far apart
When the fern frond dies, another grows to take its place
Let us mourn their passing, for it is permanent. Not like that of the moon, set to rise again
Connections between people cannot be severed, whereas those of a canoe-rope can
Hold fast to your beliefs, look toward the horizons of the sea