Following Alexandra habit, I go for a bike ride through the wild thyme and up to the airport. It's a steep hill to cycle up, but there's a 360 degree view up there. You can see what the weather is doing. This morning the air is crisp and there's fresh snow on the mountains. Reminder that we live on a relatively small island in the midst of a huge ocean, Te Moana-nui-a- Kiwa. Nick and I keep our eye on the clock so we can pick up Rob at Queenstown Airport. We're only a little late. I'm not sure how much I'm looking forward to this reunion. We have different takes and varying relationships with our parents. I've been closest throughout and feel defensive. Rob's done least of the hard yards of old age care. Very little in fact. As a result, she's much less connected. I've had difficulty coming to terms with that. Nevertheless, we're all on the same page with the effort required for Lionel's farewell. The kids will arrive tomorrow and we need to organise the funeral. Like a wedding, funeral details are important. The send off needs to be respectful and fitting. We must come to a consensus. Over lunch there's cursory agreement, some planning and tentative outreaches. Driving down the hill from the dam, the car steers into the Clyde cemetery. We remove the white marker cross from Tui's grave. It's purpose long superceded. Her gravestone identifies her resting place and the temporary place marker which Lionel couldn't bear to remove slides easily out of the earth. He's not here to plead for it's continued stake, though he will be here soon enough to keep Tui company. On equal terms.
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