and it's not that I don't like weddings
so much as some just seem really pointless,
like a gratuitous big spend
rather than a meaningful, symbolic experience
shared with those you love.
This afternoon and evening
I attended the wedding of
Audrey and Kelly.
Awww little Audrey has gotten married.
She is tiny but not little any longer,
though I'm not sure how it is that she grew up so well
and quickly.
Kelly, I don't know
but he seems like a nice man
and as the evening progressed
he seemed more and more
ideal for Audrey
and she for him.
What I want to blog about is
the haka
I consider myself blessed
to have witnessed
some really meaningful
haka in my lifetime.
All of them to date have involved
Audrey's family.
The most meaningful was a version
of the Ka Mate Haka
that the All Blacks do.
This was presented to Audrey's father Lloyd
for his birthday one year.
We were crowded into a small room,
there were quite a few of us lounging around
after a birthday pot-luck dinner
when Matty was called upon to lead a haka
to honour Lloyd.
Moving because of the strength
and power of the haka,
but also because it truely
honoured Lloyd,
a man that a thousand haka
would just be enough to honour him by.
Tonight as his daughter married her love,
another haka was given.
This haka was to pay tribute to
the history of and the gratitude for
Audrey's grandfathers
and to her and her new husband
as descendants of these great men and women.
To me as pride stirring the
All Blacks are with their challenge
it is the private and sincere haka
that move me
and give me pride in
who I am and who I associate with.
I pay tribute to the men
who take pride in their culture
and learn well the words
and the actions
and the meaning behind haka
and share their haka with a fierce pride
that is awesome.
And I mean in a shock and awe kinda way.
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