I was blessed to have a fabulous uncle, Selwyn Wilson (Ngāti Manu, Ngāti Hine), who taught my sister and I te reo, as well as incredible teachers in primary school in the 1970s who also taught us (thank you Mrs Hunia & Mrs Deuss). Uncle often spoke about being whipped at school for speaking in te reo and, although I was horrified by this, as a child I had no idea how privileged I was to live in a time when te reo Maori was once again being taught, and to know fluent speakers who were willing to share their reo with me. Over time my reo has faded (as Ngāti Pakeha it can be challenging to build it into every day life) but I want to honour the love they all gave me and try to help keep this precious taonga going for generations to come. With our 3 children having studied te reo and my husband having managed to get his diploma in te reo Māori it's time to put my money where my mouth is and make it a priority.