The Maori Elder

He walked into the classroom, and all the rowdy kids went silent. The teacher looked at him gratefully, he was suddenly her hero.
Without speaking, he sat in the chair at the head of the classroom, and waited.
All the students rushed to his feet and sat, silently waiting for the stories they knew were to come, when he was ready to speak.
He had been coming to the classroom every Wednesday for the whole year so far, and they had been hoping he would continue to come. Of course that all depended on his health, but they knew that if he could walk, then he would be there.
One child in particular, had come to rely on his visits. It was the only way she got to see her grandfather these days, as her mother didn't want anything to do with him.
Finally, he began to speak, and his voice was strong and powerful, defying his frail appearance.
"Tena kotou tamariki ma" he said, which is Maori for "Good morning children".
They listened wide eyed, as he told this week's story, about a Maori warrior who rescued a family from the rugged terrain where they were stranded with no food.
Not one child moved during that story, not even the ones who had been labelled by the experts as having an attention deficit.
The following Wednesday, the kids were more subdued, watching the clock, waiting. Their Maori warrior was never to come back again.
He was found that afternoon by his granddaughter, when she traced his steps backwards to his home in the hills. He was sitting against his favourite rock in the sun, dressed in his funeral attire. He had known be was about to die, and he knew it would be her that would find him. In his hand, she saw his last gift to her, a wooden carving he had been making. The likeness to her was amazing, and she was honored that his final thoughts had been on her. She took it from his hand gently, kissed his forehead one final time, and thanked him for the gift.
Then she went back to the village to tell the tribal leaders where he was resting. They buried him there after the tangi (funeral), right beside his favourite rock. He had chosen it as his final resting place, and his people listened to him in death as they did in life.