To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, King James Version (1611) of the Bible).

We had to wait. The famous five minutes that streeeeee-eeeee-eeee-tsch into eternity and turn into a galactic timeline lost in space and time. Well, they usually feel much longer, hours rather than minutes. Then the automatic door opened on the other side of the Besucherwarteraumabgrenzung and our hearts fell straight out onto the floor and down to the bottom of the building, several stories deep. The Oberärztin appeared and bent down to where we were sitting, among a large group of other visitors (no – this was not a ‘normal’ day; there were visitors).  Then she told us how Pádraig had lifted up a few fingers when she asked him to wave. He did it again, when she asked him again. Then she called a sister as a witness, asked him again to wave, and he did it a third time. When she was doing the round, he did not do it for the Assistenzärzte – but there was just too much going on for Pádraig to have space to concentrate, she felt. She was so excited with a huge smile around her face. She said the whole ward celebrated. Nobody knows, of course, what this move means. Whether it’s going to be a once-off, or just a first sign of things to come…

When time was over, we knew they had completely forgotten about us, we decided to take life into our own hands and ventured into the ward. When the nurse saw us, she waved and said to come in. When we looked into his room, the bed was empty. No Pádraig in the bed. Then we saw the Thekla, and Pádraig sitting in it. This is how the Thekla works: you flatten it; you move it beside the bed the patient is in; then you shift the patient from the bed into the Thekla; finally, you press a few buttons and the patient is sitting in a very comfortable chair. It saves nurses lifting patients up in a hoist, and saves the patients being lifted up and moved in a hoist which is not the most comfortable experience. Today, he staid in this chair for three hours! A new record.

The Oberärztin came in again, with another huge smile around her face saying that ‘Pádraig is doing it all by himself’, no need for more medication, all the markers that were hinting at pneumonia were coming down to normal.

To Everything * Turn, Turn, Turn * There is a season * Turn, Turn, Turn * And a time to every purpose, under Heaven: A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late. Pete Seeger, the man who was looking for the plug with an axe backstage at the Newport Folk Festival on 25 July 1965 to shut up 24-year old Bob ‘going-electric’ Like a Rolling Stone on Maggie’s Farm Dylan, and who adapted Ecclesiastes just very slightly for one of the most famous and charismatic folk songs for peace ever, died today at 94. He was a man of integrity and conviction. He’ll be sadly missed.

Don’t forget tomorrow night’s concert in The Workman’s Club!

Today’s German Music Tip
Pete Seeger, Die Moorsoldaten (04 Jan 1967). One of the most horrific, chilling, and at the same time hopeful songs about the German past – he sings it in German, and then the English version. – Heimat, Du bist wieder mein.
What’s hot
Thekla
What’s cold
Germs
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
TV Simulator (it’s a €5 gadget that produces a light flicker imitating a TV so that a burglar looking at your window will think you’re at home watching the Late Late Show when you are actually somewhere else enjoying the Friday evening).

Twitter: @forPadraig
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http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Upcoming events: http://www.caringforPadraig.org/events