This week’s Illustration Friday topic is “stripes”. I pulled this simple angel sketch from my journal because I thought her hair and wings fit the topic. I haven’t been feeling so great this week, it always scares me a little when I don’t feel well. I worry that I’ll begin sliding down that slippery slope back into full blown Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I hate that name, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, most people in the CFS community do since fatigue is only a small part of the illness. The CFIDS Association of America has been around since 1987, advocating and educating doctors, patients, and the public about the disability and suffering caused by CFS. In a way, they’ve been an angel to people with the illness, especially years ago when I first got sick and no one knew anything about it. I feel a bit better today, so hopefully this past week was just a little bump in the road. It is nice to know though, that we have angels like the dedicated people at the The CFIDS Association looking out for us, and maybe, just maybe we have angels like the one in my drawing standing beside us, whispering hope and touching us with grace when we need it most.
“If you can’t hear the angels, try quieting the static of worry.” ~Terri Guillemets
bookbabie 
I like the simple lines of this drawing. Neat that it’s on lined paper also. I hope you don’t worry too much – stress is also likely to make you feel under the weather. Draw more stuff! I know that always helps me feel better. 😉
You’re right Cindy, doing creative things does help me, always has:)
She is beautiful. Be well.
I love the simple idea of your sketch using the stripes of the paper. Thank you for your nice comment on my blog, I wish you all the best for this week, hopefully you feel better!
Glad you’re feeling better 🙂 I like your simple, beautiful angel–wonderful “stripes” and lines
Hi, Lilli –
Thanks for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment – I love your idea of an easy, no-stress holiday for all of us with chronic illness – sign me up!
Your blog is beautiful – seems like you are very talented.
So, I gather from what I’ve read here that you had CFS but are at least partially (or fully?) recovered now? Wow, that is fabulous!! I don’t suppose you have any miracle cures, huh? Typically, the stories of recovery I have heard are usually those of spontaneous recovery, though I know some teens helped quite a bit by anti-virals.
Sue
Book By Book
Live with CFS
A big part of my problem appears to have been undiagnosed Celiac disease Sue. Healing wasn’t spontaneous, slow and gradual as my kids got older and I had a little more control over stress and pacing myself, then finally when I figured out the diet problem, that helped me a lot. I was sickly as a child, so basically for 40 years I was poisoning myself with gluten. During my worse CFS years I had constant fevers, swollen glands, night sweats, sore throat, digestive problems, brain fog…the works. Some years I coasted along, but still never felt great. Much better now, but I still don’t have the stamina my friends have. I believe that for me at least, CFS was an immune response to the constant attack on my body from improperly digested gluten. I tested positive for one of the Celiac genes, so one of my parents passed it along, I think it was my mom.
I hope you are feeling better!
I am, I’ll call you tomorrow:)
To have to suffer for years and not know why must be terrible and frightening. Glad you finally found some answers. Hope you are feeling better this week – just a bump in the road as you say.
i’m glad you’re doing better–dang, this health thing is such a long process, eh? i get so frustrated with my lesser energy!