By DIANE PHILLIPS

On March 29, I became a proud parent – again. But this time there would be no worry about saving for college, no fretting about having enough milk or diapers. This time I adopted a sea turtle.

To be precise, my dear close friend, Richard, knowing how hard I had fought for sea turtle protection legislation, adopted the sea turtle on my behalf and handed its parentage to me for my birthday.

My new baby is a 154lb loggerhead named Dilly-Dally who was taken into the Turtle Marine Life Center in Juno Beach, Florida, following a predator attack that nearly cost her her life. Rescuers discovered her about an hour away in Port St Lucie, Florida and rushed her to the centre where she was admitted on January 23. The injury was serious. Dr Heather Barron amputated her right front flipper, and for the last 11 weeks, Dilly-Dally has had weekly wound care treatment along with regular doses of antibiotics to ward off infection from the gaping wound.

Still, her condition remains only Fair and as any good mom would be, I am worried about her future and whether she will be healthy enough one day to be set free to swim in open waters where turtles, docile by their nature, all too often fall prey to predators or victim to the careless speeding propellor.

For now, the reports on Dilly-Dally’s condition read like echoes of the week before it, calling for continuing attention, antibiotics and wound care with no indication of change. Though I worry about Dilly-Dally, I know she is in the best possible hands. The adoption fee covers food, medication and hospital services.

For the record, Dolly-Dally‘s official designation is Caretta caretta, a species that is on the critically endangered list in some areas and on the threatened list as it is here. Loggerheads can live 70 years or more and weigh between 200-250 lbs so at 154, my baby is petite and I am concerned, too, that she has not gained a pound since her arrival at the centre.

I cannot wait to meet Dilly-Dally in person but wherever her recovery journey takes her, there are two things for which I will be immensely and forever grateful. The first is that then- Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham listened to the pleas of those of us who marched in Rawson Square, wrote letters and pleaded on behalf of these amazing creatures who could not speak for themselves and in 2009 signed into law the Act that prohibits the taking, sale or export of any species of marine turtle or their eggs.

Today turtles swim lazily and fearlessly in waters off Green Cay across from Rose Island where tour boats take visitors who swim with them in harmony, gazing in wonderment and Instagramming the moment. It is a far better world than the one we fought with fishermen hauling them in, ignoring the cost of their cruelty as they chopped their heads and heard wailing louder and more painful than a baby’s most plaintive cry. Thank you, again, Mr. Ingraham. I remember your words to this day when you said you knew it was the right thing to do and you nodded your head.

Secondly, I am grateful for the enduring friendship of Richard, someone who knew me so well that he understood what adopting a turtle would mean. It was one of the finest and most memorable gifts I have ever received and I share the idea, the concept of adoption, with you. Next time you are struggling to find the perfect gift, adopt a turtle, a dog or donate to whatever moves the recipient.

It’s a true mark of meaningful in a whirlwind calendar of Hallmark holidays. And you never have to worry about size or colour.