Today, I went to Tating with one of Pádraig’s sisters to sort out some paperwork, to collect the post, and to see that all was ok. I hadn’t been up there for a while. Getting out of Hamburg, up onto the motorway, crossing the Kiel Canal (the Nordostseekanal), Europe’s busiest artificial inland waterway, where we always look out for the big boats, driving through “Kotzenbüll” (you do not want to live there), through Garding and passing Lütt Matten, was strange. It’s where we went almost every Friday night, stopping by to have a pint (Seos got me pint glasses which I left there) and to listen to the live music.

We haven’t been there since January.

However, during the summer months, we’ll go there together and we’ll have a great time. It won’t be like having a pint in Dublin, but it’s second best, like a rehearsal or a Generalprobe.

Pat made arrangements to attend Sara’s funeral on Saturday. How much would I like to be there in person to say good-bye.