From a Letter I Imagine.

I feel so blessed to have been raised in the era which actualized the term mātua rautia - that is, to be raised by a number of elders. In reflecting on my early years, it felt like many of my memories were of the people I met, and it seemed everyone was an aunt, an uncle, a nanny or a koro. As such, I would also be privileged to go from house to house, marae to marae, and be loved/spoilt by all those adults. In addition, I got to play with all the cuzzies and eat at their homes or they at ours, or at our marae. But I would always return home to our small 1.5-bedroom house which accommodated six of our family of eight.