I’m learning to fly but I ain’t got wings. Some say life will beat you down, break your heart, steal your crown.  So I’ve started out for God knows where, I guess I’ll know when I get there. I’m learning to fly.

It took me ten minutes of Google time tonight to find the song that echoed in my mind today when I received the absolutely brilliant, almost incredible news that Revenue (and what could be more boring than ‘revenue’?) had awarded charitable tax exemption to the An Saol Foundation, the last big barrier for signing a service level agreement with the HSE for our three year pilot project. I was looking for this song because it encapsulates today’s core message in brilliant lyrics, with some stunning guitar solos.

It’s a message to Rikki, to not loose that number, because it’s the only one he owns and because he might use it when he feels better…

There are a few versions of this brilliant song on youtube, the one I like best is the live version from Steely Dan’s concert in the Rainbow Theatre, London, from May 1974. And it is so full of vitality that it’s contagious, so different from the original cocktail lounge-like version. It makes you nod your head, move your feet, waggle your shoulders, swing your hips and gets you ready to send that letter to yourself. With that number:)

As it happens when you’re on youtube, one song leads to another. So here’s another about Learning To Fly (with Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks): Well I started out down a dirty road, started out all alone, and the sun went down as I crossed the hill, and the town lit up, the world got still.

Finally, if you want to get the day going, watch Erich Slowhand Clapton and a band of middle-aged men playing Layla in Madison Square Garden in 1999. There’s nothing like it.

Tonight, I’m telling myself: Rikki, don’t loose that number. Because I’ll learn how to fly to get to God knows where. And who knows? I might find Layla and make the best of the situation, before I finally go insane. Don’t say we’ll never find a way and tell me all my love’s in vain. Dada dada dada daaaa, daaa daaa daaa daaa daa….. Into the night till the morning comes and with it a new dawn. CHY21684. I’ll never loose that number!

What a difference it will make in Pádraig’s life and that of others in his situation. None of us can even imagine.