
At my request, the undertaker allowed me to help him prepare the body
for cremation. Born in Gisborne in 1904 he died in Auckland at the age of 92.
I'm sorry that I didn't take more care with organising his top lip. It's come out looking
a bit lopsided, and I could see that at the time but somehow I lost my nerve. I should
have been more patient.
Overall though, helping the undertaker in this way was a positive thing to do, healthy
in many ways, a natural conclusion.
I've been thinking about this event a lot lately because I'm writing down as many of my early
memories as possible, and naturally my father is a frequent player in many of these.