I MET HER mother first. Emi was head of the typing pool in a government department where I worked and, in those days, before everyone had a PC on their desks, the senior typist determined the order that work was completed. Emi was the most powerful woman at head office. She was someone that you needed to get alongside if you wanted to get your typing done promptly. As a junior staff member, my strategy was to start work early, take my handwritten correspondence up to the typing pool first thing, and ingratiate myself with the senior typist.

Emi was an early starter. Her first order of the day was a cup of tea and completing the Dominion Post crossword puzzle. By the time I arrived with my typing, only a few clues remained unsolved. Sometimes Emi would ask me to help her with a word or two. Our friendship grew, and my typing was completed in good time.