Four down, none to go.

It never happened before according to the owner who of the company who was going to organise Pádraig’s care at home.

You need 5.3 people to deliver 24-hour care to one person. They had four people lined up. The first one quit. The second was fired. The third never showed up. The fourth called in sick this morning. So things are a bit complicated at the moment…

But, there always is a but, there was another huge step forward today with Pádraig’s speech therapist. She just qualified a few months ago, is really enthusiastic and full of energy, and finds her work really exciting! It is, to be honest.

Because today, today Pádraig for the first time, another first: chewed an apple.

You should have seen it: the speech therapist put pieces of apple into a bit of wet gauze, put it into Pádraig’s mouth on the right, and then into his mouth on the left and asked him to chew. He did, no bother at all, and obviously enjoyed the challenge, as well as the apple.

She was delighted. So was Pádraig. So were we. The funny thing is: nobody had ever tried to see whether Pádraig was able to chew.

This afternoon, we went out again. To the supermarket. Isn’t it great to think that this is already part of a routine, something normal to do, after so many months in a very regulated environment where Pádraig was not allowed to go out into the green?