01/02/2026
So sorry for these whanau
A TRIBUTE OF AROHA, REMEMBRANCE, AND ETERNAL LOVE to our Mauao and Papamoa Victims
Today we pause.
We breathe.
And we remember.
We gather in this space not just in grief, but in deep respect — to honour lives that mattered, lives that were loved, lives that will never be forgotten.
Māns.
Jackie.
Sue.
Austen.
Yao.
Sharon.
Max.
Lisa.
Each name carries a world.
Each face holds a lifetime of moments — laughter, struggle, love, hope, and connection.
They were not statistics.
They were not just names on a screen.
They were people — deeply human, deeply loved, deeply missed.
To those who knew them personally:
your memories are sacred.
To those who did not:
their lives still deserve to be honoured.
There is an ache that comes with loss — a quiet, heavy pain that words often fail to carry.
But alongside that ache lives love.
And love does not end when a life does.
It lives on in the stories told.
In the lessons learned.
In the people they shaped simply by being here.
In the way their absence has changed us.
Some were taken far too soon.
Some carried burdens no one should have to bear.
Some gave more than they ever received.
All of them deserved safety, compassion, understanding, and peace.
May they now rest where there is no pain.
Where there is no fear.
Where the weight they carried has finally been lifted.
May they be wrapped in warmth —
by ancestors, by loved ones gone before them,
by the unseen arms of peace.
To the whānau, friends, and communities left behind:
your grief is valid.
Your love is visible.
You are not alone.
Let this tribute stand as a reminder —
that people matter.
That kindness matters.
That connection matters.
That silence should never replace care.
We remember them not only in sorrow,
but in dignity.
In humanity.
In aroha.
Gone from our sight,
but never from our hearts.
Never forgotten.
Always loved
