Our Family

Before I get into our day to day life and how we cope with living with ALS, I thought I would start by telling you a little about my familly. I feel that there is no point in me talking about ALS if you don't know anything about us. So here goes.


My name is Sophie, I'm almost 22, I'm English but have lived in France for over 10 years now. I moved here with my parents and my 3 brothers. I'm a hairdresser, not much else to say for the moment so will move on to the others.

Dad - 50 this year (but don't tell him I told you that, he doesn't like to be reminded that he is almost old!) He is handsome, strong, clever, "tall" (If you ask him he will tell you he is almost 6ft, - but that is not 100% true.) He is funny and silly, friendly, kind. Someone you can always count on. In my opinion he is the best daddy in the world. Oh and he has MND / ALS but I will explain more about that in my next article.


Mum – Younger than Daddy, older than me ! She is beautiful, loving, kind and gentle. She is our rock. She means the world to Daddy and to all of us. Without her we wouldn't be where we are today. She is a fighter, warrior. Mum is so many things that I am struggling to find the right words to describe her so I will let you make up your own mind.

Sam - The older brother, 24. He is intelligent, has a big heart, even if he does not show it. Great with computers and all that sort of thing (he's the one to call if you need your laptop repairing :-P) A bit of a geek but we love him just the way he is. When we were little we were close, but over time that has changed. He has a "new" woman in his life, and he is happy thanks to Annaïk. He just got married (it's weird to think that my big brother is now a married man, even though I was there, I heard him say yes to the Mayor but hey it's only been 2 weeks ;o) ) He is protective when he needs to be and despite everything I could not live without him.

Benjamin - The middle brother, 18, tall, strong, handyman chief repairman. His motto? "If it moves and it shouldn't, use duck tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD40!" A charmer, adored by girls and old ladies. As Sam and I no longer live at home, he more or less took over the role as man of the house. Ready to learn any new trades. Just about to start University.

Alex - Baby Brother, 16. To say he is my favorite would be an exaggeration, but lets say that I get on best with him. He was born four days before my sixth birthday, I chose his name (he should count himself lucky that I did not want to call him Fluffy, or Blanket or something like that :-P) I gave him his bottle when I could, I pushed him around in a pushcair, he was my baby my dolly. He has grown up to be a handsome young man, strong and caring. I still see him as a little 6 year old whe needs to be protected, even though he is a head taller than me and would be the type to protect me rather than the other way around.

On to the significant others.

Annaïk - Sam's wife, lovely, cute and helpful.. They have been together for 7 years, and she makes him happy so that's all that matters to me.

Cedric - my boyfriend. He's adorable, strong and protective. We've been together for 6 1/2 years. And is really part of the family. He gets along really well with my brothers. Mum and Dad say that they have 4 sons and not 3. I melt when I see him with Dad and the boys. He cheers me up when I need him, and tells me to take a chill pill when I am stressed. I can't explain what he means to me, but that is not the purpose of this article or blog anyway. Just know that he is a huge support for everyone. 

All of us at Sam and Annaïk's wedding 9/08/14
On the left front to back: Cédric, Alex, Mum and Sam 
Dad in the middle 
On the right front to back: Me, Benjamin and Annaïk 

Then there is

Zizou – Benjamin's dog

Jo – Mine and Ceddy's cat, who lives on dad's bed and keeps his feet warm during the ling winter nights

Now that you know more about us, we can dig a bit deeper in the next article.

XOXO