There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.

Vladimir Lenin

It wasn’t quite a revolution but definitely an uprising. A week when Pádraig was so busy that it was hard to keep up.

First, he went back to his favourite place in the house. The sofa from where he used to play online-poker with a friend on the big screen (when we were out) and from where he watched his favourite movies. To get him back on this sofa is one of these things that is so obvious that it’s hard to understand why it took the visit of two German friends and their common sense “therapy” approach to get Pádraig back to that spot in the house for the first time in many many years.

He chilled out completely and had a great time back in his old place.

Next in line was the birthday party of one of his carers. She invited Pádraig and one of her colleagues out to a restaurant for a mega birthday dinner where they apparently had a tremendous time. Going out to celebrate a birthday is the most normal thing to do.

It was so good to see that they all had a brilliant time.

Earlier in the week, Pádraig had spent some time working on a birthday present. An amazing piece of art. One of a kind. A volunteer art teacher in An Saol lent a helping hand.

It’s the time of the year when people take an autumn break. For some it’s a whole week, for some it’s just a long weekend. Pádraig headed off to the auld fatherland with most of his family.

First impressions were, let’s say, borderline.

German efficiency is not what it used to be. The ground handling crew at Hamburg airport took about an hour to locate Pádraig’s wheelchair and to deliver it to the plane – although they knew from the time that we had checked-in in Dublin that Pádraig and his wheelchair were on the way. The details of the story would have been hilarious had we not had to get up just after 3am in the morning to catch the early flight to the Hansestadt.

Needless to say that the plane’s Captain wasn’t amused while the rest of the crew tried their very best to keep our spirits up.

It didn’t help that the weather on arrival was typical for this time of the year: torrential rain driven by very strong winds against everything that stood in its way. But then the clouds parted and the evening sun guided us up North.

Husum celebrated the Octoberfest.

Really?

You couldn’t be much further up North in Germany than the city made famous by Theodor Storm. You couldn’t imagine the people up here wearing Lederhosen and Dirndl.

And to be fair, they didn’t.

The festivities turned out to be a very mini version of the annual Hafenfest, with some stalls on the old market.

We had our own Octoberfest. Pádraig’s October Uprising. He went shopping, took a tour of the harbour, and had lunch beside the water with us.

He finished off a very busy week that had been full of events that could have taken months or years. Or might never have happened at all because they were not supposed to.

Does it really take an Uprising for Pádraig to lie on the couch, paint a picture, go out for a birthday dinner without us, go on a plane journey in the middle of the night, spend a long weekend away – all in one week?

Think about it.

Here is another Lenin quote: Sometimes – history needs a push. An Uprising.

In my eyes, Pádraig is that push. He is the peaceful but very determined Uprising.