remembering

Remember... baby Malayna ... the smell of her skin after a bath... her perfect little face while she slept...how completely in awe we were of her.

When she was about 3 months old, Jimmy and I had a blessing ceremony for Malayna. Our friends and family were invited to the Cheltenham Friends Meetinghouse on a Saturday afternoon in March. We asked everyone to bring a wish or prayer for Malayna, which they could read at the ceremony {or not} and we would collect and save for her. We also asked for a small amount of dirt or stones from their yard or neighborhood to use in our yard. {Our plan was to plant a tree to commemorate the day and add the dirt and stones to the ground. We haven't gotten around to that yet.} Our friend Marge officiated {Marge is founder of a non-denominational ceremonial ministry called Journeys of the Heart. They do weddings, blessings, funerals and bar/bat mitzvahs.}

It was a beautiful, happy, tear-filled ceremony. Everyone wrote such heartfelt messages. There really wasn't a dry eye in the place. At the beginning of the blessing, we read this poem by Anne Spring {Prayer for a New Baby}:

We are grateful
for this new being
who is small in body
yet great in soul,

Who has come into our midst
as a gift.

May we be sensitive
to the sacred
as we nurture
and learn from
this child.

Give us patience,
give us strength.

And grant us
wisdom and love
to help this child
learn to sing her own song.

Then Jimmy and I told the story of her name and a little about her birth. Before the messages were read, we played a song by Dar Williams called The One Who Knows. I'm pretty sure that's when the tears started. Jimmy and I were seated at the front of the room with Malayna sleeping in my arms. I can't even put into words the emotions I felt sitting there surrounded by friends and family, holding my new daughter. This line from the song still makes my eyes fill every time I hear it: "But sometimes I will ask the moon where it shined upon you last, and shake my head and laugh and say 'it all went by so fast'".

When the song ended, each person came up to us, read their wish, acknowledged Malayna {lots of kisses!} and placed a flower petal in a small bowl of water on the table next to us. One family even sang a song. She was then anointed with oil and presented to the gathering by Jimmy. All the children were sprinkled with fairy dust {otherwise known as glitter} - their favorite part of the day!

Remembering days like that remind me to stop, enjoy and cherish my time with Malayna. She won't be little forever. {Below is a small part of the letter I wrote to her for that day.}

...but what I really want to tell you is how happy I am that you're here. And how I didn't even know I was missing something until you came along. Love, mommy.