Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.

Rainer Maria Rilke

The first time I heard a ‘milestone’ mentioned was not when I was on the road but in an office. I was introduced to a big project that was divided into milestones that had to be achieved on a certain date. The critical path was not a path at all but an indicator of the minimum time needed to complete the project.

I have no idea how long our project will take or when it will finish, if ever.

But I know that a massive critical milestone was achieved in the last two weeks when Pádraig opened his own new bank account.

We are no longer waiting for change. It is happening and Pádraig is driving it. A true trailblazer.

There were times when a bank had problems even sending statements out to Pádraig. When we had to go with him into the branch to ask the cashier for it.

Worse, there were times when the system-recommended default for him was a nursing home. Because, we were told, he could potentially have really bad seizures and other terrible episodes, it would be incredibly hard for us to look after him at home, and it would be, instead, in all of our best interests to spend quality time together every other weekend on a visit. One expert clinician turned marriage counsellor told us that most marriages crumbled under such pressure.

None of the above happened. To the contrary. Pádraig never had a seizure nor any other serious illness since he moved home. He is enjoying life, tasty food, travel, and good company. We have never been stronger as a family.

It is amazing to see that the 2015 (sic!) Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act, soon, and finally, to be commenced, has already commenced in society — who is way, way ahead of politics and legal road blocks.

Times have changed. We just have to act with beauty and courage. The dragons really are princesses. They just need a little love and tenderness.