Difficult times, that’s an understatement in the case of Jacqueline Ypersier. After growing up in a poor family and a first marriage which ended in failure when she became pregnant at 16, she ended up finding the man of her life, and then becoming a “happy grandmother.”
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, this 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. After putting his ideas in order and correcting a few elements with the help of a kind neighbor, the manuscript was sent to two publishers, and Le Lys Bleu accepted it as is.
-There five stars shine is an intense little book: 64 pages only to evoke the tragic events experienced by the author and the stages that allowed her to get back on track. 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 on sale 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.
