RUTH ‘FOUND HER TRIBE’ AT LADIES’ COVE

RUTH FITZMAURICE was born in 1976 and grew up in Co. Louth. She lives in Greystones with Simon, their five children, Jack, Raife, Arden, Sadie and Hunter, and a team of nurses and carers.

She was a radio researcher and producer when she married film director and writer Simon, in 2004, and had three children. In 2008, Simon was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and given three years to live. Simon went into respiratory failure in 2010 and was accidentally placed on a ventilator during an emergency procedure. He decided, against medical advice, to keep the ventilator; Ruth and Simon went on to have twins in 2012. In January 2016, Ruth wrote her first piece for the Irish Times about family life and a new passion, sea swimming.

If ever there was a lesson in living the fullest, most passionate life you can, this is it!

I Found My Tribe is one of the most moving memoirs I have ever read. Living with her husband Simon, who was diagnosed with motor neuron disease and her five children, Ruth Fitzmaurice writes so honestly and vividly about her family’s life that you will think about the Fitzmaurice’s long after you have turned the final page. It is beautifully written with clever descriptions and vivid imagery that will take your breath away.

Writing to the background noise of Simon’s medical machines, twenty four hour carers and five children, Ruth candidly writes about her life as she navigates various different themes including grief, friendship and love and the strength she has in the face of adversity.

Ruth’s other tribe are a group of like-minded women who jokingly call themselves the Tragic Wives Swimming Club who gather regularly at Ladies’ Cove in Greystones and immerse themselves and their problems into the freezing Irish Sea. Swimming in the turbulent waters just off the cove is just one of the coping mechanisms Ruth uses to help face the mounting challenges that she, her husband and family now face.

I found my tribe is an uplifting powerful memoir that will make you laugh and cry in equal measures. I urge everyone to read it.