Love; terms and conditions apply
Papatuanuku; the greatest form of a mother we all know. She gives life, she nurtures and loves - unconditionally. I wrestle with this whakaaro (idea) sometimes aye:
'unconditional love'
The first person who comes to mind who personifies unconditional love is my mum.
She’s been through a lot. A tough ride with her first child, winning the lotto with me, then should’ve quit while she was ahead before my little bro came along. Haha must be a Tui billboard because ‘yeah right.’
The child who enrolled herself into high school in another city, started uni and didn’t finish, left her job before she set something else up… of course I’m the favourite. Naturally, my mum worries about me. As if my life is a rollercoaster, and she can’t get off.
We disagree sometimes, because from the outside my life probably looks like chaos from time to time. I like to call it unrealised potential.. and as a mother, she wants to protect me and make sure I’m ok. Just like how Papatuanuku tries to tell us and show us signs that the way we’ve been doing things isn’t ok; it’s killing us.
So even though I go against the grain and do a lot of things she doesn't wholeheartedly support, she deserves a medal for putting up with me and that’s not even the beginning of her unconditional love...
Whāea Maggie, my mum is Pākeha. A few generations ago, her tupuna (ancestors) came over from Scotland, made Aotearoa home and worked the land. She may not be Māori by whakapapa, engari he ngākau Māori (Māori at heart). Her love for her husband, her children, our whakapapa (genealogy, origins) and our futures motivated her to learn the reo (language) and nurture the gift we’d been born with; being Māori.
She likes to say that she doesn't know where I get my reckless optimism and confidence from, but she's been the prime example for pursuing a kaupapa you believe in since before I was even born!
I know I'm going to be ok in whatever I do and that I'll be able to 'figure it out', because of the unconditional love my mum has shown me all throughout my life. Any good I do in my life, is because of my mum and my dad too - and any 'wrong' is because I thought I knew better.
Aroha nui mum.
Nā Hana.