“I have been extremely privileged to have been able to travel and study abroad and have found a lot of support and encouragement wherever I’ve gone. I’ve been given great opportunities to develop my skills and gain experiences that not a lot of people would have the chance to do, and I feel so fortunate to live in a time when it is so easy to keep in touch with anyone, anywhere in the world, at any time of the day. I have been to lots of places, seen lots of things, and met lots of amazing people – some that have had an enormous influence on my life and that I would even call family now. But at the end of the day this saying will always ring true to me – there’s no place like home. And Rewa is my home.
I come from a very large Maori-Chinese and Scottish family. My family is something I have always been proud of. I am truly grateful to be part of such a big, loving whanau and can honestly say I am one of the luckiest people in the world to experience that. Having recently returned home, I am reminded of all the things I have to be grateful for and how important it is to remember where you came from.
My 6-yr-old nephew actually summed it up pretty well in a poem he wrote for me recently –
“Down at Hill Park by the bakery store, is my Aunty Lorelley from Gregan and Nanny.
There they all are watching TV, laughing and smiling and drinking green tea.”
It is these moments that I cherish and I am glad to be home, drinking green tea and smiling with my whanau.”
