The Birthday Story (for Tyler - who turns 2 this weekend!!!)

Once upon a time there were two little children named Tyler and Maya. They were bright and happy children who lived amongst the angels in heaven. They were very happy there. They admired the beautiful colors in heaven and enjoyed listening to the beautiful music there, and that was where they belonged...

But one day the clouds parted in heaven and both Tyler and Maya caught a glimpse of the beautiful green earth below with all the people happily playing and working and they suddenly longed ever so much to go there and see what it was like. They saw all the rainbow colors of the earth. They saw butterflies visiting flowers and birds flying in the air, trees swaying in the breeze and leaves falling to the ground. They seemed to be beckoning the children. They saw fish swimming in the sea and all the different plants that covered the earth. They 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!

Tyler said to his guardian angel: "Please, may I go down to earth?" But his angel looked at him and said: "No Tyler, it is too soon. You and Maya must wait a little while yet." So the children remained in heaven and were happy, and soon forgot all about the earth.

Then one day again Tyler alone saw a glimpse of the earth through the clouds again. He saw people working and enjoying their lives, and mothers and fathers, grandparents, uncles and aunts with the children of Earth. He saw beaches and forests, mountains and islands, and on one of these islands he saw a beautiful mother with love and longing in her heart for a child, and he asked his angel: "Please. May I go to her?"

The angel said: "You must go through the land of dreams, first."

The next night the little child had a dream. In it he dreamed that he 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."

The little boy went to the angel and told him the dream. The angel said: "Tyler, It is now time for you to go. Maya will stay here, but she will join you in a while. The mother you have found you will give you and Maya all the love and guidance you will need in your life on Earth."

Tyler said he understood that Maya would have to wait in heaven until later. He hugged her and assured her he would see her again, and then he said to the angel: "I am ready. May I go now?"

That night Tyler went to sleep into dreamland and while ten moons waxed and waned he 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 Tyler took the form of a tiny baby.

From this bridge he slid from heaven to earth into his mother's arms.

She looked in awe at this new life and said "I shall call him Tyler... For that is the perfect name for him". And with that, Tyler received his first earthly gift - his name...

In Tyler's first moments on earth, he growled like a little old-fashioned teddy bear. His face was screwed up and he peacefully lay in his new mother's arms, and nothing had prepared her for the love she would feel when he first opened his eyes to look into hers.

In his first year, Tyler grew and grew. He was small but thrived. At 4 months he rolled over, at 6 months he crawled, at 7 months he got his first two teeth, and by 8 months he was walking along whilst holding onto the furniture. His first words were "Jack-Jack" - the name of his favourite toy bunny and he soon learnt even more new words such as "Mama" and "Flower" and "Star" and "Moon".

He started trying new foods and drinks, loved other children, and played with lots of toys. He loved being outdoors - touching plants, listening to the birds and the rain and discovering "nature".

Then before him and his mother knew it, he had turned 1 year old.

In the next year, Tyler grew more and more! He was soon walking so well that before long, he was running! He learnt so many new words and became interested in new things. He had developed a strong affinity with nature in his time so far on earth and admired the trees, the leaves, the flowers and the creatures he found on earth. It was in this year that he called out to Maya and insisted that she come and join him from heaven!

And so Tyler became a big brother in this year. He loved his little sister and showed her such delicate affection, she loved him back too and was glad that Tyler had called out to her to come to earth with him.

It was not too long after Maya arrived from heaven that Tyler turned 2!

And so, today, 2 candles will be lit to celebrate the day that Tyler came to meet his mummy and bring her all the love and joy she needed, and so she would have a beautiful little boy to love in return...

(This is my son'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 )