llywela | Sweet Sixteen

My Not So Small Sis turned 16 on Monday. It's hard to believe. It seems like only yesterday Barnardos asked my Mum to look after this new little baby from one of their Mother and Baby units for a few days a week. That was all it was meant to be: five afternoons a week for six weeks because the baby had a cleft palate and the parents were struggling to cope. Mum had provided respite childcare for a whole string of Barnardos babies already, this was just one more in a long line. Whoever would have dreamt, that first day when we were introduced to this teeny little week old baby, that she'd eventually end up being ours for keeps? The last 16 years have not been easy. Watching her parents destroy themselves with drugs and alcohol was not easy. The decision to adopt was not easy. The adoption process was not easy. And raising a child both physically and emotionally damaged by the actions of her parents has not been easy. As well as the cleft palate, now repaired, Chel has hearing loss, asthma, a deviated septum, learning difficulties, a speech and language disorder, and is on the autistic spectrum. She can be extremely hard work - more often than not, in fact. She is classed as highly vulnerable and will likely need a lot of support all her life. But despite all her problems and disadvantages, she has grown into a vivacious, vibrant young woman brimming with life and passion. She left school this week, and is now looking forward to a still uncertain future with trepidation but also with hope and enthusiasm. I am proud to call her my sister.

Sweet 16

We spent Chel's 16th birthday at Manor House Wildlife Park near St Florence, Pembrokeshire, as Chel was shadowing a zookeeper for the day (well, for about 2 hours, anyway) as her birthday present. While the rest of us were wandering around being normal visitors, Chel was behind the scenes having a private tour with one of the keepers, learning about the animals and going into the enclosures to feed and groom some of them. She had an absolute blast - well worth the price!

Chel in with the tapirs before she disappeared into the hut to groom them, hand-feeding a nursing wallaby, and getting ready to feed the lemurs

A lot of the wallabies seemed to have nursing infants in their pouches - some sprawled in the most uncomfortable looking positions, others jumping in and out!