"Jim was my father-in-law and my children’s dedicated grandfather. He was the founder of the Rites of Passage Foundation, which runs programs for girls called ‘Tides’ and for boys called ‘Tracks’, three times a year during the school holidays, with a focus on rites of passage, transition and marking life stages.

Jim was like a father figure to me, and a friend. He gave me this mobile at Christmas lunch years ago, when he was only just starting to make them. I was so happy with it. He made these mobiles from all kinds of recycled objects. Jim and I had an awesome connection around poetry. He was a wonderful grandad who I felt very celebrated by, as a mother. He wrote this poem for me: 

I Love to Love:

'You are a Mother, a woman who is a Mother knows what it means
And thrives on that. 
The knowing of that. 
You are a woman and men are celebrating that you are a woman. 
Always celebrating the life force is invigorating
And annoying 
Sometimes.
You love too much. 
Sometimes.
Sometimes to the point of exhaustion of your spirit
Of your soul
Of your self.
Please be more selfish
More selfish
More selfish'

Jim got ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a motor-neuron disease. He died in 2020. Because his voice was the first thing that was majorly affected, he started writing more. He was a storyteller. That’s where the mobiles came in, as another form of expression. He loved the movement of them and the play. He had around 20-30 mobiles hanging in his room and the bathroom at one point. This mobile really gives Jim a place in our home. I often give him a whirl when I think of him."

What does sentimentality mean to you? 
"I am quite a sentimental person. My blood family and the friends I had for the first part of my life are all in a different part of the world. So I have a lot of sentimentality about that part of my life. There’s a longing to relive past feelings. I don’t see sentimentality as something sad or uncomfortable. It’s about celebrating and remembering in full gratitude." - Sacha, Te Whanganui-a-tara/Wellington (Interview: Chloe Mason). Find Sacha: facebook.com/getrealconnection & Rites of Passage Foundation: tracks.net.nz