My mum
Tomorrow I celebrate my 10th anniversary of living in Ireland. Somehow it’s a surreal anniversary, not only because of how time has flown by so fast since the day of my leaving but also because of the strength of some of my dearest family members have shown over the past years, especially my mum. My mum is my best friend, my backbone and my reason d’être. She’s strong despite having lost her first born, her second husband, her dogs and much more. She’s risen like a phoenix from her ashes and every day I am more proud of her. Every day she shows that life goes on, that there is always light at the end of the tunnel and because of that, I love her so much.
W.B. Yeats, the collected poems
“You that would judge me, do not judge alone this book or that, come to this hallowed place where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon; Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace; think where man’s glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends.” (William Butler Yeats) © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2012.