Then in 1993, after 4 years of applying, I was eventually granted a Marriage Licence and this was the beginning of a new era. I got very busy taking wedding ceremonies when one phone call changed things as a call from a local funeral home. They asked if I would take a service for the grandmother of a couple I married just a few weeks before!
From this ceremony, I was regularly ask to perform funeral services. I got so busy that I sold my taxi business and resigned from the operations side of the industry and went full-time taking wedding, funeral and naming ceremonies. This kept me so busy with around 180 funerals and 60 weddings a year. I did this until 2000 when the manager of Gee & Hickton approached me and offered me a position as a full-time Funeral Director and the start of a new era began once more.
May 17th 2000 was my first day and a busy time began. Training was extensive and then into working with families - it was the greatest experience ever but many long hours. From when you knocked on a door, you didn’t know what to expect but it meant every day was so different and exciting. I was very fortunate to travel to many parts of the North Island conveying loved ones for families.
To a job that I loved so much, my life came crashing down on the 5th January 2008 when I suffered a stroke. This paralysed my entire right side and kept me in hospital for 103 days. Unfortunately the paralysis has never gone away and I have not been able to work full-time as a funeral director since. Fortunately it hasn't stopped me doing some weddings and funerals on a part-time basis.
I believe being positive and having the right attitude is what has got me through, together of course from the love and support provided by my wonderful family and Rotary friends. Thank you all very much.