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Featured StoriesJetsun Yudra Celebrates Her 2nd Birthday
by Ian Bascetta, Continuity Kusung
On a sunny and slightly frozen Saturday afternoon, Jetsun Yudra celebrated her second birthday with a festive and cheerful gathering at the Kalapa Court in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Just before the celebrations began, the Sakyong bestowed birthday blessings upon Jetsun Yudra in the company of the Sakyong Wangmo and Jetsun Drukmo in the court shrine room.
Jetsun Yudra exclaimed “Yayyyy!” as her friends arrived in the late afternoon to help her celebrate turning two. She donned a blue chuba and a sparkling silver birthday hat with pink fur around the edges that read “Birthday Princess.”
The festivities began with a Treasure Hunt that required the young Shambhalians to follow the clues via photos of different places around the court. Jetsun Yudra led the way and didn’t miss a beat, but not without help from her older four-year-old sister, Jetsun Drukmo, who seemed to enjoy roaming her home and letting others find the clues rather than ruin the surprise. The Jetsuns seem to have perfected the art of hosting at the very young age of four and two!
As the treasure hunt came to an end in the family dining room, the children gathered for food, cake, and gift presentations. Following gifts, the Potrang Players (Amateur puppeteers Jeff Rosen and Kelly MacLean) put on a short puppet show inspired by Disney’s Frozen, with a Shambhalian twist (Disney meets Downton Abbey meets Shambhala). As the children sat in silence and awe at the inspired production, Jetsun Yudra decided to take a look behind the curtains and see how it was being done. When she appeared backstage, the cast and crew were delightfully surprised and got many laughs from the entire audience of children and parents.
As the play ended, and the lights came up Jetsun Yudra managed to steal the show with an amazing rendition of Disney’s “Let it go,” which she has memorized. Just as everyone thought the party was dying down, the Sakyong presented a poem he had composed for Jetsun Yudra that morning in honor of her second birthday:
Now You Are Two
Now you are two.
It is good to be two,
For you have always been two.
Even in the beginning you were two,
For mother and father made you two.
And when you were born,
The sun and the moon were there too.
Now being two you can run up,
And down too.
You can touch earth,
And sky too.
You can have cake,
Now You Are Two
And juice too.
Even in the future when you are many twos
You will still be two,
For the world and you will make two.
This and that will be two.
Love and compassion will always make you two.
For on this day,
Your sister and you make two.
Your mother loves you too,
And your father loves you too.
Written by the Kongma Sakyong on the occasion of Jetsun Yudra’s second birthday. 14 March 2015, Year of the Wood Sheep. © The Sakyong Potrang
The celebrations came to end with the final gift from the parents—a five foot tall giraffe (Jetsun Yudra’s favorite animal) as she exclaimed “GeeeRAF!!”
With impressive grace and manners, Jestun Yudra could be seen and heard in the front entranceway saying, “bye bye” to all the guests as they departed back into the frozen magical land of Halifax.
Mar 28, 2015
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Magnifique poème du guru, du père et du Sakyong! Ça fait trois!
Mar 27, 2015
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Thank you for this delightful account of a wonderful day. Happy Birthday Jetsun Yudra!
Mar 26, 2015
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Happy birthday Jetsun Yudra! We love you! Hugs from Emma.
Mar 26, 2015
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Thank you for sharing. What a joy!
Mar 26, 2015
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Happy birthday Jetsun Yudra! How good to be two!
Thank you Ian, for sharing the story, and Benny for the pictures :-)