She joined her husband.
Found dead among rats, around ten days ago, in her garden shed in Maule (Yvelines), Jeanine was buried Monday March 11 in the municipal cemetery where her husband has been buried since 2017. Revealed in November 2022, the The story of this almost 75-year-old woman had moved people throughout France: she had lived, alone and for years, in a garden chalet infested by rodents.
The day after their mother's funeral, her two sons confided their sadness.
And she is tenacious.
Because to their mourning have been added for several days insulting accusations of abandonment.
A double punishment which bruises them a little more.
“We never abandoned her.
Look, I have photos!
Thierry defends himself.
I came to her house to repair her roof, put up new walls.
I went to see her, I bought oil for her stove, I killed rats.
What is said about us is revolting,” he explains before revealing an anonymous and insulting letter found on the day of the funeral…
“What if she didn’t want to be helped?”
»
Jean, her brother, claims to have also invited her to his home on several occasions.
In vain.
Jeanine, even more fragile since the death of her husband, had chosen to reject all outstretched hands, opting for life with her cats.
A form of social suicide, isolating him from the rest of the world, like a shipwrecked man who refuses to leave his desert island.
“How can we imagine that children do not care about their mother?
ask Jean and Thierry.
What if she didn't want to be helped?
We have nothing to reproach ourselves for.
We did everything for her.
If we had abandoned her, why would we have come to her funeral?
All these dirty comments on the Internet, from people who judge without knowing us, are difficult to digest.
And we have to face it on top of our grief.
»
A wave of attention
And yet.
The misfit was not alone.
Her funeral revealed the attention paid to her, ultimately, by a whole network of relatives, friends and volunteers affected by the precariousness of this mother.
“I came because I went to her house from time to time.
His story had affected me and I wanted to say goodbye to him,” confided a woman, pushing open the door of the small church in Maule on Monday morning.
The old lady, whose story had shocked thousands of people, rests in the Maule cemetery (Yvelines).
Two steps away, two others wait, a bouquet in hand.
These volunteers from the local Red Cross were present for months at Jeanine's bedside.
On Monday, they oscillated between sadness and anger.
“She was abandoned,” says one, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Jeanine's story had even shocked people beyond the immediate circle.
In addition to the dedication of charitable associations, anonymous people and personalities tried to help him after the media coverage of his daily life.
Babette de Rozières, the famous restaurateur and culinary host and regional advisor (LR), proposed a magical end to 2022.
On the program: a dinner in his very chic restaurant in Maule and a trip to the hairdresser.
But the old lady finally declined.
And had spent the winter of 2022 with his cats.