\u201cI still wake up every morning hoping to see your face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fa\u2019an\u0101n\u0101 died on February 21, 2024, aged 49, after collapsing during a charity fun run in downtown Auckland.<\/p>\n
Collins said raising their daughters, Asalemo and Kaperiela, alongside him was her \u201cbiggest flex\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur protector, provider and confidant. U brought joy, laughter, peace and fun into our home. U pointed us to Christ and no matter the season, u walked with confidence in your salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described Fa\u2019an\u0101n\u0101 as a precious gift who continued to inspire and shape her.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh Fes, u would be so proud of our girls,\u201d Collins wrote.<\/p>\n
She said their faith in God continued to blossom and she was grateful to see their father\u2019s characteristics in them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thank God for our treasures,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Collins ended her \u201cbirthday love letter\u201d by acknowledging that while she and the girls would miss him \u201ctoday and always\u201d, she would continue looking for him in the clouds.<\/p>\n
She said the family would mark the occasion with a sushi date and by visiting his grave and mural in Manukau.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might also have a G&T for you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatch over us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI still wake up every morning hoping to see your face.\u201d Fa\u2019an\u0101n\u0101 died on February 21, 2024, aged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,6325,36177,38290,228167,228168,30712,2740,2518,60083,228169,10109,4507,32739,111,43,139,69,31705,180,3755,61,110493,20838,228166,33016],"class_list":["post-447692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-auckland","tag-birthday","tag-collins","tag-councillor","tag-efeso","tag-faann","tag-fia","tag-former","tag-green","tag-heartfelt","tag-heavenly","tag-husband","tag-late","tag-marking","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-penned","tag-shares","tag-third","tag-to","tag-touching","tag-tribute","tag-vasa","tag-widow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}