My body derides me. It scares me. It hurts me… It sometimes puts me in danger… It imposes itself… Much despite me, it becomes essential. I must remain very close to this unloved body, stay in tune with it, adjust myself to its moods. It’s hard! When ugliness imposes itself, when it arrogantly insists, then I submit to it. Before the mirror, before this body with insolent skin, a great sadness overcomes me. Yet, at other times, there are flashes of beauty, brief moments where I catch a glimpse of charm, even finding myself pretty, once in a while. Reeling between love and hate on the tides of my life…from hope to fear…from sorrow to joy…I strive to build a bridge between these shores.There are different types of neurofibromatoses and several portraits of the same neurofibromatosis. It is a hereditary disorder, and both my daughter (32 years old) and granddaughter (19 months old) are affected. As a mother and grandmother, what will I pass on to them, in addition to the disorder…the fear of the disorder…its monstrosity? Will I decry its pernicious side to them? Will I make them feel like escaping life?Beyond the frankness, I want them to nourish themselves with all that may be beautiful and good on their road of life. I want to tell them that I love them and that, as long as I live, I will relentlessly show them where they can find beauty…starting from themselves, above all! I tell them, through my actions and my own road travelled, that every day is precious…and that I have chosen life!