Reunited After 20 Years The Sweet Girl I Never Forgot

Social worker Mary’s tears of joy.

- Cloe Willetts

Beneath the branches of a tree in Mary Kippenberger’s Hawke’s Bay garden, the social worker tightened her arms around the little girl on her knee, facing outwards to the paddocks, away from her tears.

“I was trying to find the words to tell her she wasn’t going home,” explains Mary three decades on, chatting to Woman’s Day from a Martin borough backyard alongside the same lass, Natasha Love, now 32.

“Her school had rung to say her mother wasn’t picking her up because she didn’t want her any more,” she recalls. “I couldn’t let Natasha see my face. If you’re five and your social worker’s crying, your world’s a bit out of control.”

Until now, the pair haven’t seen each other for 20 years. Yet they laugh like old friends during our photo shoot, where Mary’s arms again embrace the woman she describes as “strong” and “resilient”.

Natasha, who recently received her Masters in Social Work and a dream job working with at-risk children in Wellington, credits the 66-year-old for influencing her blossoming career.

“Looking back, I realised Mary was always there when things weren’t good, no matter what my behaviour was like,” she tells. “She cared and believed in me.”

The retired social worker beams, knowing how far Natasha’s come since she was referred to her Department of Social Welfare office in Hawke’s Bay as a sad and angry four-year-old.