Doe Ray Me

Doe Ray Me tells the story of three siblings from Downpatrick in Northern Ireland whose lives change forever following the death of their father. With their mother failing to cope and progressively turning to alcohol for comfort, each sibling is forced to discover diverging pathways through their remaining childhoods. Doe, the eldest, chooses escapism to live with relatives in England to pursue a career in nursing. Ray, the brother, disabled from birth, flounders in a world without security and protection. Me, the youngest and author of Doe Ray Me, finds new wings that are invariably clipped through a litany of personal hurts and injuries before being angelically restored. Doe Ray Me narrates reflectively through evocative storytelling, each sibling’s journey through life. In the still moments before death, Me takes the reader on a journey of laughter and tears, hurt and anger, reflection and joy, to discover not the meaning of life, but the meaning of life for Me. As a carer for most of her life, Me gives voice and insightfulness into the hidden world of carers, people who choose sacrifice and service over personal ambition or gratification to care and love those, for whom they care. Doe Ray Me is not a book of victims or survivors, heroes or heroines. It is a book about ordinary people that overcome quite extraordinary experiences but in so doing, discover the purpose and value for the life lived, the life chosen to be lived.

Elizabeth Thompson’s chosen role as a young carer, continuing as a legal guardian and adult carer for thirty years, has significantly influenced Elizabeth’s life experiences and shaped her insightfulness towards giving voices to ordinary people who overcome quite extraordinary challenges, both as carers and to those who are cared for.