LOOKING BACK OVER MY LAST TEN YEARS

 Bonjour, 

As we arrive into May awareness week 2023 I realise that I've been writing poetry about living with M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) for ten years now. 

A lot has also happened to me personally in those ten years. 

Although in 2013 I was not unfamiliar with writing poetry I wanted to start writing about me and my illness. 

This was, I believe, the start of an amazing feat on my part. I had to overcome all the obstacles linked to M.E. It was to become a very difficult process and one that I wanted to abandon at times. It was a slow learning process with pitfalls and successes. Sometimes it was the cause of relapses. But sheer determination and will power has kept me going. I've been faced with criticism but at the same time I've received some lovely comments and support. 

In the last ten years I've 

• written hundreds of poems about living with M.E. 
• written many other poems, some even in French
• I've written over 100 blogs 
• I've self published 7 books of poetry on Amazon 
• I've set up a page on Facebook 
• I've shared my poetry, blogs and books over many social media sites
• I've taken part in some interviews  
• I've recorded a podcast about me and my life with M.E. 

Phew! I'm not sure how much more that I can do. After all there are only so many ways that you can write about a chronic illness. 

This was the first poem I wrote in 2013 

My first book 'My A-Z of M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis)' was written and published in 2013. 

My first blog 'Why write poetry about M.E.?' was written and shared in 2013. 

Back in 2013 when I first embarked on my writing projects I was still married to a French man and living in a small village called Juigné des Moutiers in the department the Loire-Atlantique . 

I was so excited and proud when I successfully published my first book of poetry. 

Here I am holding a copy of that book 

However, by 2014 my ex husband decided on a project to buy a caravan, place most of our furniture and belongings in storage and move around France. He hoped to find work as a butcher in different places. I was not keen on this plan but he persuaded me that it would be good for me and would be like a holiday. So I went along with his project. 

The caravan 

In 2014 we started this adventure living in a caravan. At first I loved it and enjoyed seeing new places and relaxing on the campsites. One even had a lovely swimming pool which I was able to profit from. 

However, things soon started to go badly wrong. My ex husband had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and life was hard with him. He often developed problems with people and work situations. He couldn't handle stress very well but neither could I. Every time there was a problem we had to move on to a different camp site. During 2014 we stayed in three different camp sites. The caravan proved to be expensive and there was always something to be fixed or repaired. That added to the stress for both of us. Despite this I made the best I could of the situation. What's more I continued to write poetry and blogs. 

Without going into much detail a crisis was reached in October 2014. Living in a caravan was lovely in the Summer but not in the oncoming Winter. The caravan had never ending problems. The stress reached intolerable levels for me and my ex husband became very depressed. I left him in a case of urgency. I was placed in a studio and helped by an association for the next year or more. I was also helped by a fantastic women's support group. They helped me to find a place of my own and to start over. 

When I felt settled I once more embarked on putting together another book of poetry. Since then there's been no stopping me! 

Now I'm retired, still living in France with my cat. 

I have a few more writing projects planned. 

Until then I think it's time for a small celebration! 

A bientot 

The French Femme 

xxx