NEW ADVENTURES

2016. Where have the years gone? They say time goes quicker as you get older, I prefer to say that time flies when you’re having fun.  And I’ve had lots of it. Fun that is!

Since I turned forty in 2013, life couldn’t get much better. Of course I’ve had my bad times, bad days. For me that will never change. But life is all about taking the next step despite your circumstances. Which is exactly what I do. To be honest I never believed that turning forty would be such a huge milestone and would feel so fantastic. If anyone had told me at fourteen that I would have felt as I do, I would have said take me there now!

Looking through my blog, I’m disappointed to see that I haven’t written about my experiences travelling to Lourdes which I should have done, especially the holidays with WOGLE and Across, who I travelled with for twelve years in my late twenties and early thirties as a helper. There are many stories, many memories that I can recount from my time with them – it was a very rewarding time in my life that showed me there are so many people out there in a worse situation than I am. Many of the sick came from respite homes, had little family stability or had life-threatening illnesses. Despite that, for the week they spent away from their normal daily life, they smiled and laughed as if they didn’t have a care in the world. It made me realise how lucky I was and what I coped with on a daily basis was nothing compared to what they had to deal with.

Sadly, as all things do, the trips came to a natural end.

So it turned out that in 2013, not only did I turn forty, but other things happened too. I moved into my beautiful forever home that I am continuing to make my own, a lovely pastime. I also went back to volunteer at my old school Treloars College, finally using my degree – and am now been in my third year working in their Learning Resource Centre, as one of the contact points for all enquires, issuing and returns etc.

Treloars is a very different place to how it was when I was a student. It’s had a complete overhaul and now has all the mod cons for wheelchair users.  When I was at the college, the library was exactly that, just a room full of shelves of books that we had access to most of the time. Technology has advanced so much now that for the first year I worked in the college, I watched the students use all the new high tech facilities in wonder. It literally blew my mind seeing how much it helped them.

And in between all this I continued my travels, which brings me to my latest adventure. Next Thursday I will FINALLY be catching a plan to Sri Lanka, the country I have wanted to visit for a very long time. Combining the two things I love most, I will be working in an orphanage with disabled children for six weeks and then also doing a little bit of sightseeing at the end – although I fear I might just be collapsing!

The start of something amazing….and a series of new blogs on their way . . .