It’s good to have a sister who remembers. ‘Namenstag’, your Saint’s Day, is not a great deal in Ireland (neither are birthdays, as you know, once you pass your 21st:) so  I was happy to get that phone call from home with best wishes. In the past, mmhhh… the very distant past I must say, it was a brilliant day. As this is the day before St Nikolaus – he who fills your boots with sweets if you leave them outside your door on the night to the 6th – there were two consecutive days with loads of sweets and presents; those were the days when sweets were still special). And all just a few weeks before Christmas. It was always such a magic time.

There were concerts, Christmas biscuit baking, special masses with candles and Advent songs, it was cold, dark, and snowy outside and everybody slowed done from what, in hindsight, was a pretty ‘slow’ life anyways.

Advent is all about the ‘arrival’ (is that why they brought out the movie recently?), the arrival of the saviour, the arrival of the light that follows darkness, the arrival of a new beginning, of hope, of a new dawn. It’s about what keeps me going. The reason for never giving up. The time of the dreamboaters who know that anything is possible. The knowledge that once I get through difficult days, there’ll be another day offering me a new beginning. It’s a very ancient belief going back to pre-Christian times, a belief in the ups and downs, a belief that things don’t end but always emerge on the other side again, renewed.

Got a note today that two pieces of equipment we ordered for Pádraig are on their way – both will make a big difference for his upper body and general cardiovascular system, in addition to everything else from his lungs to his heart and inner organs. No idea where all of this is going to go but it’s almost time for another extension… 🙂

Pádraig had a busy day today with two therapists helping him with his communications and physical fitness and control.

No word from the Department of Health or the HSE yet – but it shouldn’t take much longer until the Minister of Health will sign off the HSE’s service plan for the next year which is when we will find out what happened to our An Saol Project proposal!