Happy Birthday Maya
Maya is my first cousin, my mother's niece, whom I first met when she was a tiny toddler. I won't discuss my first memory of her because I was seven years old, and it might embarrass her, and it is her birthday. But she grew up in what my mother referred to as the "backwoods of California" in a one-room log cabin house. Which, of course, made her the coolest kid in my eyes because she was living what I pictured as a Little House on the Prairie life.
She was shy and very quiet as a youngster. She was home-schooled by her mom, and that was SO fascinating to us public school kids. Her mom would send us some of her stories and poems made into little books complete with pictures that would make me jealous because she was published, and I wasn't. Maya would make us small nature gifts from acorns, woods, and berries, and we thought her life so mysterious and worried it might be a bit pitiful since she didn't have crayons or paints. Of course, we had no clue, and it wasn't until their visits to us became more frequent that we discovered her life wasn't much different from ours.
It was cool to have a cousin who loved to read and write as much as I did. I always felt a connection because of that despite being older. Pretty soon, having her and her mother each Christmas was something we counted on and looked forward to, and we still do to this day.
When I got married, I worried because I had so little family next to my husband's large contingent. One by one, my family representation grew to nothing as people could not travel or were off living their own lives. When Maya said she was coming, I cried. I am so grateful for her presence on my big day.
Since then, I've seen her get married, we've vacationed together, and watched one another become mothers. She's grown from the shy, quiet, stay in the background kid into a beautiful, funny, caring, and capable woman.
We might be cousins, but I like to think we are also friends.
Happy Birthday, Cousin Maya. I hope your day is quiet with a nice glass of wine. I love you dearly!
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