Until November 12, 2012, when the police came to wake her up in the middle of the night to announce that the house her only son rented in Han-sur-Lesse had burned down. An accidental fire, in which this 37-year-old son but also the Nivelloise’s four grandchildren lost their lives.
“In one go, I lost my whole family, she explains. Without knowing how to explain it, a month before, I felt that my son was going to die. But my four grandsons, I didn’t expect that at all. Obviously, it was all very hard. The funeral, my grandsons’ birthdays and my son spread over the whole year, the holidays when there is no one left, my sister who becomes a grandmother while I am no longer… But I did not want, I should not, become bitter.
“A difficult book to write”
More than ten years have passed, Jacqueline continues to think every day of those she lost, but she says she is at peace today. And she wrote this book which allows her to put aside her mourning, but above all to explain how, despite the trials, she refused to lock herself in her unhappiness.
Although she had never thought of writing, the first draft was written in three days, practically in one go. She then put her thoughts in order and corrected a few things with the help of a kind neighbor.
-There five stars shine is an intense little book: 64 pages only to evoke the tragic events experienced by the author, and the stages which allowed her to recover. Small and big things: taking back a dog and raising it, surrounding yourself with friends, enjoying nature, letting go during hypnosis sessions after a crisis, going on vacation to the mountains…
“When we are at the bottom, when we encounter the worst in life, we can only go back up. It takes willpower but we get there, testifies Jacqueline Ypersier. I am someone who hides nothing: I put everything on the table, with a book that is difficult to write, honest towards readers but which is really meant to be positive. You shouldn’t only look at the dark in life. There’s also red, yellow, blue… It’s important, all these other colors. At first, we wonder if we have the right to feel good, to enjoy the smell of lilacs, the song of birds. The answer is yes and I hope that this book, the profits from which will be donated to two SPAs, can help others.”
Jacqueline Ypersier’s book will be available in bookstores and on online sales sites. The author will also be present at the Brussels book fair, from March 13 to 16, on the stand dedicated to writers from Walloon Brabant.