She adopted children—then opened her home to three more teenagers

Over time, Wendy became a trusted adult in the teenagers’ lives. The brothers turn to her for advice on everything from school to matters of the heart, while their sister has formed a close friendship with Wendy’s youngest daughter and often stays over at their home.

Along the way, Wendy taught them everyday life skills—from cooking to manners and personal hygiene—even, as she put it, “telling them to use soap when they shower”.

Despite their deepening bond, Wendy is careful not to replace their mother. “I’m very conscious that I’m not their mother, and I wish for them to be close to their mother,” she said. To nurture that bond, Wendy would drive the siblings to visit their mother at the nursing home where she lives. “I’ve done that a few times just to assure their mother that I’m not here to steal her role,” Wendy said.

She even stopped taking the boys for haircuts after learning that their mother had brought them to a barber near the nursing home. “Now, I encourage them to go with their mother,” she said. “Whatever their mother can do with them, I’d rather she did it.”