Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light. Try not to take it personally.
Kamand Kojouri

One day, when we sat outside last summer, a dust bowl appeared out of nowhere. When the dust had settled, we realised that part of the 100+ year-old wall separating our garden from that of our neighbour had collapsed.

We now have a builder who is going to replace the old wall with a new one.

First, of course, he had to take the old wall down.

Now, anybody who comes to visit us, suggests to leave things as they are. The two gardens look fantastic without that wall separating them. The additional light our house is getting is spectacular. And while the weather hasn’t really been that great, the cherry tree in our garden doesn’t care. He is blooming as if there were no more freezing nights and dark, dull mornings.

Pádraig likes Martin McDonagh who made several great movies, including In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and, more recently, The Banshees of Inisherin. He also produced a play called Hangmen which premiered in London in 2015 and now made it, just eight years later, to Dublin.

One of Pádraig’s carers invited him to see it and so they went last week to the Gaiety Theatre. They tried to share the storyline with me afterwards. I looked up the plot on wikipedia.

I kind of follow what happens in the play, but it didn’t make any sense to me. I suppose, I was missing the atmosphere of the play which might have helped me to ‘get it’. Maybe the play is just absurd. A bit like life. People get killed by accident or because their hangmen are too careless.

For the second time in two weeks, Pádraig had a music therapy session standing up. It seems like a brilliant idea. Few professionals sing sitting down in a wheelchair. The lungs are much more open and the air flows so much better when you’re standing. For Pádraig trying to produce sound, it must be similar. We’ll keep trying.

There wasn’t just singing, but also a lot of dancing, people tapping their feet, and even taking off the floor.

To celebrate St Patrick’s Day with us, students from DCU joined clients and their families in An Saol. They brought their dancing shoes and instruments with them and performed an hour of magic where we all forgot whatever troubles we were dealing with. Nothing better for Brain Health than moving your body, singing, breathing deeply, and being in the company of others.

There is so much light these days that the dark days seem to have gone. At least for a while.

No need to burn others to see the light. If there ever was a need.