We are organizing a special ‘camino’ for Pádraig over Easter. He is going to walk quite a distance over the coming days. From the comfort of his bed. I know, it sounds amazing and too good to be true but – as we have learned over the last weekend – mad and crazy things are happening that no one can really explain. The walk won’t be quite like the one we had in Spain over the past few years around Easter, but given the circumstances, it’s a close ‘second’, a runner-up.

We now have a series of weekly meetings. One with the physio and OT. One with the speech therapist. They are all really nice, incredibly nice. Doing their job, of course, but also having a real interest in supporting Pádraig on his ‘camino’. I think he is really lucky to have so many people around him that will do everything they can to make his recovery easier. They could not really be any more supportive. I know that none of this is easy. Not just for Pádraig, but also for the hospital staff. ‘Keeping the faith’, recognizing even the tiniest step forward, being enthusiastic about it, sharing this enthusiasm with Pádraig, passing on to him whatever positive energy there is, is very often a challenge. That’s what life is all about, right? A challenge, a constant struggle. At that, a struggle that, in the end, all of us are going to loose. Which is why we so much admire people who keep going nichtsdestotrotz!!

About three years ago, I started to think that life is just a longer version of the passion. It’s a constant struggle. It’s about not giving up. It’s about suffering. About experiencing the solidarity of friends, or of strangers during a time when you most need it and less expect it. It’s about the hope and victory on Easter Sunday. I don’t think you have to be a catholic, or even a Christian, to see some truth in this. Try it out. The longer you talk to any person, the better you get to know them, their families and their friends, the clearer the picture gets. They all have their own ‘cross to carry’,

Today’s German Music Tip
Musikantenbörse Garding – not a band, but an event. The most unlikely event in Garding, Germany’s second smallest ‘city’, has 8 weeks of music every summer. And they are looking for new musicians to join the fun. (Garding is 5 minutes from Tating, and about 1.5 hours from Hamburg, no the north sea cost.)

Since we should really be in Spain – here is our first Spanish song:
Joan Manuel Serrat, Mediterraneo (1974). This song has a long personal history for me, with many recuerdos – but it all changed, when an australian lady played it for her dying husband every afternoon in Beaumont. It must have meant so much to the two of them. Their lives, their memories, their dreams.

Finally, don’t forget that tomorrow is the last day to register for the Dublin Women’s Marathon!!!!!

What’s hot
Camino
What’s cold
Arrival

The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Nichtsdestotrotz…