Five months on, the mother of seven with “more great-grandchildren than grandchildren” is trying to regain a sense of normality in the rural home she shares with her 51-year-old son.
Meanwhile, the pair are sleeping in an adjacent shed while repairs are made to their beloved home.
“When we come back into here, it’s just going to be plain as anything. We’re going to get a new kitchen (but) we’re not going to get anything flash,” she says.
“I love the garden. I did lose a lot of my bulbs. But you can always replace them. You can never replace life.”
Tahu picked up the skill through making muka for her brothers’ eeling excursions. Here she is pictured in younger days, deep in her craft. Photo / Supplied
It was not the first disaster she has lived through. Tahu remembers being in Wellington at the time of the Wahine tragedy in 1968, when 51 people lost their lives.
Following that, she was in Tai Rāwhiti during Cyclone Bola in 1988, and has vivid memories of large earthquakes which rattled her home and broke household items.
As she shares from her 80-year memory bank, it becomes clear the warm smile on her face is more the result of a positive attitude than an easy run through life.
Born in 1941 during World War II, Tahu’s life began in Waiwhetū, Lower Hutt, as the fifth of nine children.
She started working at the age of 14, taking a job at Griffins’ biscuit factory before transitioning to the freezing works.
But after seven years of living by herself, she remembers coming home late from one particular trip feeling alone in the world, dumping her pack next to the fire.
“I went up to my room and I thought, ‘Is this the sort of life I’m going to live?’”
It was not to be. Tahu remembers the phone ringing, and on the other end was an old friend, Malcolm, who she had helped following the passing of his wife.
He later dropped around half a slab of meat (which left her wondering where the other half ended up), and the pair began a relationship which lasted for two years.
That, too, ended in heartbreak. Malcolm’s life ended unexpectedly under tragic circumstances, leaving her on her own once again.
But as constant as the force of change has been in her life, so has a skill which has helped her ride the ups and downs - weaving.
Tahu sits in the middle of her rural home on the outskirts of Gisborne. Photo / Liam Clayton
In recent times, she has referred to it as “the thing that has kept me going”.
Tahu is a deft hand, and has been recognised nationally for her contributions to the craft.
She has designed garments for Air New Zealand, had her work featured in 2002 hit film Whale Rider and in 2019 received a Kiwibank Local Hero medal for both her services to the community and the art of weaving.
As if by fate, the harakeke bushes outside her whare are some of the few plants in her once-blooming backyard that weathered February’s storm.
They have stood strong, as has Tahu.
Now in her 80s, she has no plans to take her foot off the gas. She says she loves elderly people, but does not class herself as in that category.
“My friend in town, Lucy Berry, she will be 104 this coming year,” she exclaims, as if to remind herself that age is no barrier to youth.
The hiking days might be over and there is no feature film work in sight, but she is as busy as ever, repairing her home and keeping fit in the garden.
There is no life philosophy, just gratitude for every day.
“It’s been awesome really. I’m blessed.”
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
