My Nana – Nga Mata ō tumu – was born in the Cook Islands and lived on one of the fifteen islands, called Aitutaki, until she was fourteen. Nana and her family then moved to New Zealand for better work opportunities.
Once in New Zealand she had to acclimatise quickly to a new environment, language, and schooling. She met my grandad, Earl, when they were both young, and they had one child – my dad, Ricky.
My nana was only forty when I was born, and she was often mistaken for my mum, which we both found funny. I grew up living with my grandparents on and off throughout my life. I was always welcomed and given so much love and care, and Nana had an endless amount of patience for me.
Nana Mata was an extremely hard worker. She had a quiet strength and loved a homebrew and the newspaper crosswords. Her way of doing things was always the right way – especially when it came to cooking. Haha, she was usually right.
She was clever in kitchen – still the best cook I know – and I will never have fried chicken or chop suey as good as hers again. When I decided overnight, that I was going to be a vegetarian (lasted four years), she didn’t understand what a vegetarian was, and it made no sense to her. However, by the next dinner she had perfected a vegetarian pie using whatever she had around the house. This was impressive because it was before Google, social media, and blogs made vegetarian recipes readily available.
I spent hours in the kitchen with her growing up, which are now some of my favourite childhood memories. Nana was always telling me to slow down, not rush everything, appreciate what’s in front of me, and try and do something right the first time.
Nana could be cheeky and opinionated, often about my outfits. She liked to be a little argumentative and loved to laugh and attend a good party. Nana showed love to the people she cared about by cooking for them and offering a place to stay if needed. She will forever be one of the best people I have ever meet.
-Hayley