TO ALL FAMILY, FRIENDS, SUPPORTERS WHO LIKED AND POSTED A MESSAGE ON MY TIMELINE AND THOSE WHO OFFERED THEIR SYMPATHIES AND LOVE FOR MY MUMS PASSING, I THANK YOU WITH ALL THE LOVE IN MY HEART. I CANNOT THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU PERSONALLY BUT I AM POSTING THE EULOGY I WROTE AND READ OUT AT THE FUNERAL SERVICE. A SMALL GIFT IN RETURN. A BIT OF READING BUT A SNAPSHOT OF THE BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING WOMAN THAT WAS OUR MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER AND GREAT GRANDMOTHER! LOVE AND MISS YOU HEAPS MUM XX ps...THE LINK BELOW IS A DOCUMENTARY ON OUR FAMILY BACK IN 1996...CLIP TWO CAPTURES MUM, HOW SHE SPOKE ELOQUENTLY AND HELD HERSELF AS A DIGNIFIED SAMOAN WOMAN. Eleitino Muliofetai Ieriko Umaga was the proud wife of Umaga Tulouna Umaga, mother of Pati, Umaga Tanielu Daniel and his wife Jenny, Lani and our sister Pula’au Pilitati and her husband the late Joe Pilitati. She was an even prouder grandmother of Elina, Jericho, Tabitha, Rangimarie, Daniel, Daniele, Eleitino the late Taiana, Agatui, Vaiola, David lepou and great grandmother to Jordan, Jacob, Shyreece, Maddison, Mikaela, Nazareth and Lyric. Our mother was a woman of dignity, fiercely independent, a woman of not only physical beauty but also an inner beauty that touched all who knew her. In the fa’asamoa she is known as a “Tausi”, a title given to the wife of a high chief or a speaking chief, an orator. As a tausi, mum would ensure that our dad would meet his obligations as a high chief and would always rally the family to bring their contributions whenever occasions required it such as weddings and funerals. She was so dedicated to our dad, they loved each other dearly and their marriage lasted from January 1958 till dad’s passing 52 years later on November 8 2010. Mum and dad had this good cop bad cop thing going between them. Dad was a strict and hard disciplinarian, who showed little emotion and could put the fear of god in anybody, mum on the other hand was the soft spoken beautiful woman whose manner, voice and words could melt the toughest exterior. I should know, as the oldest child I was the crash test dummy, that’s why I’m hard on the outside like my dad, but humble and blessed with physical beauty like my mother. Late 2004 our mother had a major stroke that left her paralyzed on one side and robbed her of her speech. Not only was her beautiful voice taken away but so was her independence. Despite the fact that she could not speak, when we would have prayers or church service, as soon as we started singing hymns, Mum would start singing in a loud soprano voice, drowning out all those in the room, as soon as the hymns finished she would go back to her silence. It was such an amazing thing to watch but it was testament to her commitment and dedication to her church, Christianity and love of god. This was strengthened even further when in 1982 mum and dad were key leaders in the establishment of the first American Samoa Kenana Fou EFKS church in Wainuiomata. This also lead to their meeting up with Reverend Elder Tiso and Agatui Panapa. Tiso and Agatui would have a very special and deep bond with our mum and dad and as a family we are blessed to have them as our spiritual leaders. Tiso and Agatui, on behalf of our family, we thank you both so much for everything that you have given to our mum and dad over the thirty two years that you have spent with them. Our mother would never let us forget it if we did not acknowledge the deep love you had for each other. Thanks also to mums side of the family, the Ieriko family, to those who have come near and far to support us, to join together to make mums day even more special. Special mention to Afamasaga Ieriko for his leadership as the matai of the Ieriko Family and to Uncle Fili, mum’s youngest brother who has travelled from Hawai’i to be with us today, Leuli Ieriko, Pula’au’s brother from Samoa and also acknowledging mum’s two surviving sisters our aunty Saisului Dykstra in Auckland and Aunty Lili Sopoaga in Dunedin, they could not be with us today but are here in spirit, we send Saisului and Lili our love. To Aunty Lua, mum loved you and you loved her in return and especially when she needed respite care at the rest home, you were there by her side, each and every day caring for her like a devoted daughter, thank you so much Lua. Lastly to my own family, know that your Nana loved each and every one of you. You have done her proud and you have given her a quality of life that allowed her to be with her family and to maintain her dignity until her very last breath. A special mention to our sister Pula’au and her family, despite the tragedies of recent years, we can’t thank you and the girls enough for everything you have done for mum while living with you. Daniele, thank you for your sacrifice to be your nana’s full time caregiver for the past two years. I can still see mum’s cheeky smile, hear her infectious laugh, knowing she’s finally free from all the pain. That she is content now and in heaven she is baking a batch of her famous pagi popo, coconut cream buns and asking god if he would like another piece. Today, let us not mourn but celebrate our mums legacy and farewell her on her final journey. Mum, we will miss you so much but we will never stop loving you each and every day. Until we meet again, we love you mum
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 03:18:26 +0000
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