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Burntwood Spoonies Connect reaches 200 members

Two women sitting together on a grey sofa, mid-conversation and grinning. On the left, a woman with pink hair in a green floral blouse is mid-wave at the camera — that's me, your Mrsvark, having a reasonably good spoon day by the looks of things. On the right, a woman with dark hair pulled back, glasses, and a lilac sweatshirt, smiling in that way that suggests she's about thirty seconds from saying something dry — that's Aimee, the Aimeevark herself. Behind us: flowers, general organised chaos, and if you look carefully, a cushion that says "That Aardvark" something. Because of course it does. 🐾💜

Reposted from Facebook:

Sha - My Spoonie Yin and Honorary Aardvark, Aimee, popped round for an impromptu cuppa this afternoon ☕ — doing what we do best, putting the world to rights and getting unreasonably excited about numbers. And before anyone asks, no biscuits or cake were consumed during this visit. Sadly. Although between our joint spasms, shakes and twitches, we reckon we could have mixed the batter between us and got #TechGuyPaul to stick it in the oven and call it a celebration cake.

Next time, bab — we'll do it properly. 🎂😂

Because PEOPLE. 🎉

Burntwood Spoonies Connect has hit 200 members.

TWO HUNDRED.

We may have squealed. I'm not confirming or denying. 🐾

Yesterday, mind you, this would have been announced very differently — me in my pjs and beanie, Aimee under the covers for warmth, both of us flat out and STILL absolutely losing our minds over 200 members because that's us. Neither of us is holding the other up — both of us holding each other up. Good days AND bad days. Two halves of a whole. Yin and yang. 💜😂

And today, because I was up, about, and navigating the danger ⚡zone one careful step at a time, we got to sit together and marvel at the fact that 200 people in our community have said, "I'm home. This is my spoonie tribe. They get me."

We're all on that same rollercoaster — the loops, the drops, the bits where you're hanging upside down, wondering how you got here. But we're on it together. 💜🎢

Aimee, Paul and I started with just a twinkle of an idea. A hope, really. It's every single one of you who has built this into what it is. And we couldn't be prouder. 💜 We are absolutely made up. And yes, we got a bit emotional.

Two spoonies, one cuppa, zero cake, and more emotions than we were expecting. 🥹💜

If you're one of our 200—thank you. From the bottom of both our aardvark hearts. 🐾🐾

And we cannot — absolutely CANNOT — let this moment pass without a massive shout out to the purple bearded one himself, #TechGuyPaul aka Theaardvark. 💜 The man behind the curtain. The one doing all the technical witchery that keeps this whole thing actually functioning. Without him, Aimeevark — Honorary Aardvark that she is now! — would be two spoonies spiralling gently into the void, muttering about Facebook settings.

He makes the magic happen, and we are endlessly grateful. 🧙‍♂️💜

KOKO 💜

- Sha (aka Mrsvark) & Aimee, (the honorary now nicknamed Aimeevark)🐾🐾

...and a very important mention to the purple bearded one himself, #TechGuyPaul, aka Paul Taylor, without whom none of this would exist 💜 and every single one of you 🥄

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