Maya used to have a little boy living in heaven with her, named Tyler. But one day, after the clouds parted in heaven, Tyler and Maya had caught a glimpse of the beautiful green earth below with all the people happily
playing and working and Tyler had longed to go there ever so much - so much so that their Angel had agreed, and allowed Tyler to go down to Earth. This left Maya in heaven... And before long, she decided that she wanted to go there too, and see what it was like.
She remembered all she had seen when the clouds had parted the day her and Tyler first saw the Earth. She had seen all the rainbow colors of the earth. She had seen butterflies visiting flowers and birds flying in the air, trees swaying in the breeze and leaves falling to the ground. She saw fish swimming in the sea and all the different plants that covered the earth. And importantly - she saw other children climbing trees, running, playing,
skipping about and jumping in the meadows and walking through sand and leaves. It was all so beautiful!
One day again, when Maya was alone, she saw a glimpse of the earth through the clouds again. She saw people working and enjoying their lives, and mothers and fathers, grandparents, uncles and aunts with the children of Earth.
She saw beaches and forests, mountains and islands, and on one of these islands she saw a beautiful mother with love and longing in her heart for another child - And also importantly, she saw her brother Tyler... and Tyler was with the mother... She saw how much love was shared between the mother and Tyler. She decided now was the time for her to go to Earth, too...
And so she asked her angel: "Please. May I go to that mother, and Tyler?"
The angel said: "You must go through the land of dreams, first."
The next night Maya had a dream. In it she dreamt that she went to the mother, and she held out her arms and said: "Please come and be my child. I will love you with all my heart and keep you from harm down here on Earth. You will be loved by me and Tyler with all our hearts. We have a special place here for you on Earth"
Maya went to the angel and told him the dream. The angel said: "Maya, It is definitely now time for you to go.You may join the mother and Tyler. The mother you have found you will give you and Tyler all the love and guidance
you will ever need in your life on Earth."
Maya said to the angel: "I am ready. May I go now?"
That night Maya went to sleep into dreamland and while ten moons waxed and waned she rocked in a little boat upon the sea. At the end of ten moons' time. a beautiful rainbow bridge stretched from the heaven to earth and upon reaching it Maya took the form of a beautiful baby. From this bridge she slid from heaven to earth into her mother's arms.
The mother looked in awe at this new life and said "I shall
call her Maya... For that is the perfect name for her". And with that, Maya received her first earthly gift - her name... Tyler decided to put his own spin on her name. He named her "May-May" as a nickname :)
In Maya's first moments on earth, she opened her huge eyes and gazed at the mother. Her face was dainty and she peacefully lay calmly in her mother's arms. Yet again, as with Tyler, nothing - NOTHING - had prepared the mother for the love she would feel when
In her first year, Maya grew healthily. She was a big girl! Long and chubby, with little rolls on her legs and arms...
She rolled over at 5 months, started crawling (albeit commando crawling!) at 6 & a half, cut her first 2 teeth at 7 months, and had 6 teeth by 11 months! She was walking along the furniture at 9 months, and was sure to soon take her first steps by the time she turned 1... As she grew, her eyes became more bright, sparkling blue - and her hair became fair.
She was pretty and precious. She began to develop a penchant for looking at
herself in the mirror, and babbling and talking away, with her first words being "Mum mum" and "Bub Bub"... And she loved her brother
Tyler - ever so much, and in return Tyler showed so much love for her.
They were lovely as brother and sister. And all together, the mother, Tyler and Maya, made a family...
And so, today, 1 candle - Maya's First Birthday Candle - will be lit to celebrate the day that Maya came to meet her mummy and her brother, and bring them both all the love and joy they needed, and so the mother would have a beautiful little girl to love alongside her little boy...
(This is my daughter's "Rainbow Bridge Birthday Story" - it is based on a Waldorf philosophy of telling the children a story about themselves, and their creation, in honour of their birthday. Each year an additional paragraph about the child is added to follow the previous years, and a candle is lit at the end of each year's paragraph - year by year, a candle at a time... A simplified version can be found in "Beyond the Rainbow Bridge", a book by Barbara J. Patterson and Pamela Bradley. The story found in this book can be adapted to create an individual story to tell specifically to your children about themselves with personal detail. This is my first "go" at a "Rainbow Bridge Story". Please don't copy or redistribute this one for yourself - if you wish to create one a basic outline of one can be found at http://herbnites.tripod.com/waldorfinspiredschool/id12.html )
