Listen to this to start your day and you’ll be alright! Believe me, it works. It turns problems into some insignificant comical stuff. It makes you dance. It makes you happy. And you’ll pretend with Van the Man to be a black singer with a brilliantly deep, dark voice. You’ll find it easier with the daily grind…

Given the pretty dire situation in relation to Pádraig’s care, therapy (except for his excellent, private, physio) and rehabilitation, we have been looking for caring people, professionals with a heart and ambition, who could complement Pádraig’s current rehabilitation programme. We have started to look at the possibility of making a room available to them (not necessarily in our home:) at a cost that would make it feasible for them to move to Dublin.

Because we know that Pádraig’s situation is far from being unique, we hope that once we have identified the right professionals they might be able to move on to An Saol’s Day Centre once that opens. In that case, we would already have worked together and feel confident that we are in the right company.

Tuesday is swimming day, except for today. Both the PA who accompanies us and myself have not recovered enough from the cold/flu to dip into the water. Though these days are probably going to be the last nice days of the autumn in Dublin, pretty mild, sunny, quiet and just lovely, I haven’t been out even for a short walk. Feeling cold and miserable. (Which reminds me of how things are going while trying to see the bright side of life, the bright side of the road.)

I am kind of keeping my distance from Pádraig so as not to pass on my germs to him. It’s a strange feeling to be less involved and I miss it (being involved) and being with him.

Don’t know about you. But when I’m sick, I so much more appreciate my health that I take for granted most of the time. I also feel decades older, pretty useless, and a bit pessimistic. I find it hard to get over this self-pity and keep going. And I’m just talking about a common cold, maybe a bit of a flu, but nothing serious, really.

When all the puzzles look like they fit… there’ll be days like this. There will be!