A Tangi

Have you ever been to a tangi? How did you feel when someone close to
you passed away? One Saturday morning we heard that my Papa past away. He died of cancer after fighting it for 20 years. He was about 80 years when he past away. My mum was crying and looked sad. I was sad too because Papa always had a snack for me when I went over for a visit. We had a tangi to say goodbye to my Papa. When we went to his tangi mum was crying a lot with all of the other visitors. They were saying nice things about papa. My Uncle performed my Papa’s favourite haka and it was so funny that everyone laughed and felt happy. Papa always made us smile. We all shared memories about Papa and said we will never forget him. He was the best Papa to my brother, sister and I. We buried my Papa in my grandma’s grave and we placed their crosses together to hug each other. Some of us started to cry again. My mum told Papa not let Nana boss him around now that they are back together. We started to laugh again. At the tangi we felt a little sad and a little happy too. At last Papa and Nana were together. We all celebrated his freedom. I still miss my Papa a lot but I know that he is happy in heaven. He is watching over me and my whanau. Rest in peace Papa.

Speech by Destiny