Telephone conferences. Meetings. Trying to stay on top of work. Emails. A long visit in the hospital. And: YES! VIVA la THEKLA! A break from the Giro d’Italia MOTOmed Viva 2 training machine. All ‘metrics’ really good. Some reaction to read-out-a-loud news stories from thejournal. A hand squeeze from Pádraig. Some music. A cream egg tasted (not eaten). Two to go. Still hidden in the lovely hand-knitted Easter hens which a good friend sent over to Pádraig. A smile? Not sure, but could have been a smile. A bit of movement in the right direction. Slow and steady.

Another. Ordinary. Day. One of so many.

The plan was to start working on the implementation of the 2nd edition of the ‘Good Friday Agreement’ today. The idea is to establish best practice, learn from people who are a step ahead of us here in Germany, get a mentor, talk to our friends in Ireland, set a date for the opening, and get going.

It’ll be a great, a really necessary, and such an important thing to do. I need to do something that has a positive outlook, a bright future, something that has meaning, makes sense, and is forward-looking. A goal we can achieve, even if it will take some time. Are you in?

Today’s German Music Tip
Demis Roussos, Goodbye my love – Goodbye Auf Wiederseh’n (1973). Keep in mind when you watch this clip that it’s from the Hitparade, the top 10, on German TV. And take note of all the young people in the audience… Just a bit more than 40 years ago.
What’s hot
Awareness
What’s cold
Formulare
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Gemütlichkeit

Today, we discovered the story, in Der Spiegel (http://img.ly/yDBm http://img.ly/yDBo http://img.ly/yDBp), of the young English girl who managed to increase the number of her followers on Twitter from 300 to 30,000 in just a couple of days. (It also got published in the English papers, among them the Daily Mail.) Der Spiegel reported on it, with a full page article headlined: “90 Zeichen Stuss”. The sad thing is that, if you think about it, what Gemma Worrall wrote is probably not that strange for someone who doesn’t read that much, hears about the President every day, lives in a country where the prime minister is not that much of a headliner, and the media are dominated by news from our neighbour across the big pond. To be honest, I thought about coming up with something like that tweet myself, get 30,000 followers, and then strike back at the ’empire’. What do you think? Just have to come up with the ‘killer tweet’:) Pádraig continued with his training today, his coaches getting better with the equipment – though the MOTOmed VIVA 2! has got an awful lot of programmes and settings. The way he is going at the moment, he’ll be more than ready for his wheelchair and the date in the rose garden whenever the wheelchair finally arrives. He really seems to enjoy the exercise, he is very relaxed and his oxygen levels are going up with the exercise. We are so happy that we are able to help and that he get more movement into his body. Nothing like it!

Oh, before I forget it: Late last week, I got a call on my mobile from someone saying he was calling from Limerick. He asked me was I Enda Kenny. I said ‘what’?  He said, ‘Yes, Enda Kenny. I found your number on the interweb’. – While this sounds like a joke, it’s not. I hang up:)

Today’s German Music Tip Werner Lämmerhirt, Manche Dinge die ändern sich nie (2008). It’s funny how names and things I hand’t thought about for decades (yes decades!) are coming back to me, preferably late in the evening or at night. Like Werner Lämmerhirt. One of our regular singer song writer finger pickers. (Though I would disagree with this song title – we will change even, and especially, the things “die ändern sich nie” – right?!)

Manche Dinge, die ändern sich nie Schon als kleiner Junge verspürte er den Drang zu etwas Großem um dann in seiner Fantasie zu oft blind vorzustoßen dann riss er sich Wunden und blutige Knie manche Dinge, die ändern sich nie Und war der Tag mal grau und fürchterlich, sucht er sein Heil im Dunkeln wo die Welt noch ihre Wärme hat, morgens ist er sturzbetrunken das ist auch so seine Art von Philosophie manche Dinge, die ändern sich nie

Ein jeder hat ‘nen Scherbenhaufen und den trägt er mit sich blind man lässt die Dinge einfach laufen wie sie sind Nur mit den Jahren fällt’s auch leichter, man gewöhnt sich eben dran dass das Glück nie ganz gereicht hat’ dann und wann Die Oma ist schon ganz nervös, die Bank kommt sie besuchen die schwatzen ihr dann ihr Häuschen ab, meinen, es käme wie gerufen denn im Heim wäre noch ein Platz frei für sie manche Dinge, die ändern sich nie

Und der Politiker im Wahlkampf tönt, er will sich jetzt darum kümmern und wie er auf die Pauke haut, da kann man sich nur wundern heute hat er seine Meinung, morgen scheißt er auf sie manche Dinge, die ändern sich nie Ein jeder hat ‘nen Scherbenhaufen … Und die Moral des Ganzen ist, ach, lass mich da nicht lügen dass wir stets die Dummen sind, wenn die da Oben uns betrügen sind wir nur die Bauern ihrer Schachpartie manche Dinge, die ändern sich nie

Doch zum Glück gibt’s noch was anderes, dass will ich nicht vergessen wenn der Frühling auf den Winter folgt, und Liebende sich küssen Mag sein es hat ’nen Hauch von Melancholie doch diese Dinge, nein, die ändern sich nie

Text u. Musik: Werner Lämmerhirt 1. Gitarre: FACFCF

What’s hot 30,000 followers and hitting back What’s cold Boring tweets (but how do you make them ‘attractive’?)The German word/phrase/verse of the day Stuss

Twitter: @forPadraig http://www.caringforPadraig.org

This morning we went to a church we hadn’t been to for the Easter celebrations. You think the catholic church is universal. Well, next time you go to Germany, or even Hamburg, I’ll point you to the church to prove you wrong. It was packed and a completely different experience from the one we had at Christmas in our parish church, where we had been almost on our own. As part of the celebrations, a baby was to be christened. Leroy Kilian (before you ask: yes, the priest did have a hard time finding saint Leroy, which is why he always referred to baby Leroy Kilian during the ceremony.) The parents were a not-so-young-anymore couple who obviously had never assisted a christening before. When the priest asked them, what they wished for their child, they said “Na ja, die Taufe, nicht?” and were immediately corrected by the priest “Die Taufe Leroy Kilians”. At this stage, he was still sharing the microphone with the parents, so that all of us could clearly hear the parent’s answers. He then asked them whether they renounced evil (Widersagen Sie dem Bösen, um in der Freiheit der Kinder Gottes !eben zu können?) and they responded: “Ja sicher” to which the priest said “Ich widersage”. When he asked them whether they believed in God the Almighty… (Glauben Sie an Gott den Vater, den Allmächtigen, den Schöpfer von Himmel und Erde?) and they said: “Auf jeden Fall” – he lost his patience and told them to say “Ich glaube” or he would stop the whole ceremony altogether. That was also the end of him sharing his microphone with the parents…

The mass took an hour and a quarter in total, had a dozen altar boys and girls, a phenomenal organ performance, at least two dozens of holy songs, and would most definitely not have been possible in Ireland. But we shared with everybody the joy of the risen Christ, the joy of the resurrection and victory over death.

Later and back in the hospital, we were reading the news from some websites for Pádraig, as we do every day, including thejournal.ie, his and many young people’s favourite online news channel. We found “The week in quotes” (Our worst fears and a lack of editorial judgement: The week in quotes) and started to read the news out to him, starting with Sean Fitzpatrick who was found not guilty of providing unlawful financial assistance; second piece was on Garda whisteblower John Wilson who revealed that more serving members of the force may come forward with new revelations; and then – the third piece of news of the week:

Completely unexpected!

Completely unexpected was also the really nice fruit and cheese one of Pádraig’s could-not-be-nicer carers brought in to him today. We had tried to let him taste an Easter egg – but the fruit was definitely the healthier option. While Pádraig cannot eat (yet), we think he is well able to feel that there is something in his mouth. His tongue and his nose were definitely picking up these ‘goodies’. It’s all stimulating his senses.

He also went back on his exercise ‘bike’. We’re getting better at it and so is Pádraig! It’s amazing: you would think it to be exhausting – but it really seems to relax him, bring up his oxygen levels and keep his heart rate down. Of course, it only for about half an hour, it’s slow, and his legs are moved for him by the ‘bike’. What a difference that will make to his overall condition if we continue with it over the coming weeks!

We were looking at the coverage of the 1916 commemorations today at the GPO. The rising that laid the foundation of what is Ireland today. Those who gave their lives then had ideals, they really believed in a better future. So do we. And we will work hard with Pádraig and his friends to make it happen! A better future. Another Easter Rising!!

Today’s German Music Tip
Muenchenmedia Team, Oh, oh, Osterhas – They say, ‘viel Spass beim Mitsingen’ – not sure about the ‘Mitsinge’, not sure about the song really, but this being Easter…, we’ll be generous:)

What’s hot

What’s cold

The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Frohe Ostern!

Twitter: @forPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org

Whether you are religious or not, catholic or not, the events of Easter, the ‘story’ of Easter, must be one of the most extraordinary ones you will ever hear. A few years ago, I was cycling home from Heuston Station, just before Easter. It was late. Cold. Dark. I was listening to music on my phone (were phones not made to make calls anyway?). The usual. Dylan, Stones, Young, Lindenberg, Bach. “Oh Haupt voll Blut und Wunden”, the passion. It made me think. Realize. Is the story of the passion the story of life? Are those three or four days, or maybe this whole week leading up to Easter Sunday, is this our life? Triumph on entering Jerusalem; a last big meal with our friends; the kiss of the traitor; the judge that believes but does not impose a just verdict; the long walk up to Golgotha, the help from strangers, friends, family; the suffering and the end; finally, the defeat of death. The victory of hope.

Pádraig had a bit of a setback today for a few minutes when he was moved into a new position. His oxygen levels went down quite low. This used to happen regularly, but it had not happened for quite some time. Luckily the staff (nurse and doctor) managed to get his breathing back up to normal without more than the routine intervention, more or less as ‘always’.

After that, we arranged the merry-Reck-MOTOmed for Pádraig, which “führt zur Ausschüttung von Glückshormonen” according to its manufacturers. In our case it simly führt zur Ausschüttung von ‘stress hormones’, in a good way. We are getting really better in adjusting the machine to Pádraig, and in getting him to do the exercises almost every day, but it is still a bit stressful, again: in a a good way. – My common sense tells me that this is really fantastic, he needs the movement, his legs need to be ‘coached’, his feet will need to realize that they are controlled by him. The more his blood circulates, the better and the sooner his brain will recover. We are so excited about this, it’s hard to explain.

When we told Pádraig that we were now going to lift his legs into the merry-Reck-MOTOMed, he started to move his feet! Once he got going, interestingly, his hear, temperature, and oxygen level did not go down – all the important parameter improved. Isn’t that marvelous? We remind ourselves all the time to take it very easy with Pádraig and we will stop the merry-Reck-MOTO Med as soon as he gets too stressed out.

Today’s German Music Tip
Bach, BWV 244-63 O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden

What’s hot
Hope, believe
What’s cold
Betrayal

The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Strandkorbgrenze

Twitter: @forPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org

Today was one of these ordinary days, nothing really new, nothing  really changed – except that there was a of ‘good friday agreement’ meaning that we are going to create a place in Ireland for young people in a position similar to Pádraig’s.

Pádraig himself was well today, he sat out in the viva-la-thekla and we got him to train more with the motomed.

Good Friday brings so many memories of us being together in Spain walking the camino, attending one of the ‘pasos’.

I won’t disturb them and keep it short today.

Twitter: @forPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org

We are organizing a special ‘camino’ for Pádraig over Easter. He is going to walk quite a distance over the coming days. From the comfort of his bed. I know, it sounds amazing and too good to be true but – as we have learned over the last weekend – mad and crazy things are happening that no one can really explain. The walk won’t be quite like the one we had in Spain over the past few years around Easter, but given the circumstances, it’s a close ‘second’, a runner-up.

We now have a series of weekly meetings. One with the physio and OT. One with the speech therapist. They are all really nice, incredibly nice. Doing their job, of course, but also having a real interest in supporting Pádraig on his ‘camino’. I think he is really lucky to have so many people around him that will do everything they can to make his recovery easier. They could not really be any more supportive. I know that none of this is easy. Not just for Pádraig, but also for the hospital staff. ‘Keeping the faith’, recognizing even the tiniest step forward, being enthusiastic about it, sharing this enthusiasm with Pádraig, passing on to him whatever positive energy there is, is very often a challenge. That’s what life is all about, right? A challenge, a constant struggle. At that, a struggle that, in the end, all of us are going to loose. Which is why we so much admire people who keep going nichtsdestotrotz!!

It does what it says on ‘the tin’: “Ausschüttung von Glückshormonen”

About three years ago, I started to think that life is just a longer version of the passion. It’s a constant struggle. It’s about not giving up. It’s about suffering. About experiencing the solidarity of friends, or of strangers during a time when you most need it and less expect it. It’s about the hope and victory on Easter Sunday. I don’t think you have to be a catholic, or even a Christian, to see some truth in this. Try it out. The longer you talk to any person, the better you get to know them, their families and their friends, the clearer the picture gets. They all have their own ‘cross to carry’,

Today’s German Music Tip
Musikantenbörse Garding – not a band, but an event. The most unlikely event in Garding, Germany’s second smallest ‘city’, has 8 weeks of music every summer. And they are looking for new musicians to join the fun. (Garding is 5 minutes from Tating, and about 1.5 hours from Hamburg, no the north sea cost.)

Since we should really be in Spain – here is our first Spanish song:
Joan Manuel Serrat, Mediterraneo (1974). This song has a long personal history for me, with many recuerdos – but it all changed, when an australian lady played it for her dying husband every afternoon in Beaumont. It must have meant so much to the two of them. Their lives, their memories, their dreams.

Finally, don’t forget that tomorrow is the last day to register for the Dublin Women’s Marathon!!!!!

What’s hot
Camino
What’s cold
Arrival

The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Nichtsdestotrotz…

Today was amazing

There was a bit of a delay, but today Pádraig had an opportunity to call you. Using his voice for the first time in a long time, it was not quite clear who he was calling, but it must have been in response to this shout of ‘Pádraig, Pádraig, Pádraig’ traveling on Sunday night from a very cold and dark beach in Bray all across the way to Hamburg.

We had made an appointment with his speech therapist for this morning. When she unblocked the tube, Pádraig struggled a bit with the new and probably irritating sensation in his throat. Once he got used to it a little, the therapist blocked the tube so that Pádraig had to breathe through his mouth and nose. Again, a whole new sensation after so many months. The amazing thing is that he was able to do this, struggling first, but then relaxing a bit and taking the air in through his mouth and nose, and breathing it out the same way. This is when we heard his voice, not articulating clearly, not ‘real’ speech, but it was as if he was trying to tell us something, as if he was trying to speak. Of course, we don’t know whether that was really the case, but that is how it sounded. It was amazing for us, and it must have been even more amazing for him. I think he was saying to all who went on this mad adventure over the weekend “you’re an amazing, crazy and mad bunch of people. I heard you on Sunday night!”

As if that was not enough, a really caring nurse asked the therapists today about how to use the exercise ‘bike’ – and then, she got him going on this gadget for about an hour. Some time this week, she’ll show us how it works.

And we got word that the super-dooper custom-made rocket don’t-stop-us-now-cause-we’re-having-a-good-time wheelchair will be beamed down to Eilbek from the universal special assembly station up in the solar orbit stelar system early next week. We can’t wait!

Remember the rose garden? Well, it won’t be long now!

The Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon will take place on 02 June, Bank Holiday Monday, and there will be a sizable contingent of Pádraig’s friends joining the marathon to raise funds. We’ll have more details on that soon. But in the meantime, please remember to sign up for the event, because the deadline for signing up is approaching soon: Friday, 18 April, is the last day! Sign up here. So far, 36 brave runners have signed up on the Facebook page – but in order to be allowed to run, you will also have to register on the race’s official website.

Today’s German Music Tip
Ape, Beck und Brinkmann, Endlich ein Liebeslied. Another band from my Heimat who gave their last concert in Dortmund in 1987… 

Was nützt den alles Weinen, unser Schreien, unser Klagen,
Wenn wir das, was wir zwar meinen, doch vor lauter Angst nicht sagen.
Jedes nicht gesagte Wort, jene Eiszeit der Gefühle,
Nimmt uns nur die Kraft für uns’re Träume, uns’re Ziele.

What’s hot
Voice and Exercise
What’s cold
Silence and lack of activity and challenge

The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Da fackeln wir nicht lange…

Twitter: @forPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org

Today, we would have been on the way – on the way to Spain to walk the way, the camino de Santiago. Easter Week or Semana Santa was when we went to Spain to have a few days together as a family. We tried the beach one year, and when that was quite miserable, we tried it for another year, and when that was miserable again, we tried – something else… Someone in the family is a specialist on the ‘camino’ or rather the ‘caminos’, all of which lead to Santiago. We knew we couldn’t do this in one ‘go’. Just close your eyes. Imagine what this would have been like. Yes, you’re right. It just would not have worked. So we took it in stages. No more beaches, and 3-days of walking through the campos de Castilla instead. We picked ‘el camino del sur’ and started from Salamanca, our favourite spanish city, for obvious reasons. So for the past few years we walked a few days. And you know what? It was brilliant. We stayed in Albergues (basic but really cheap at €3 a head), had three course dinners with drinks for 8 euro each, and had time to be on our own as well as time to talk when we wanted. To be honest, I had a lot of time on my own, not because I wanted to but because for some stupid reason, my boots never worked out well for me. I was always find on the first day, limping on the second, and barely able to walk on the third, trying hard to keep the pace. Pádraig was always happy to join, until the day before the flight when really really important things started to happen which he always just about managed to sort out in time to come along. How happy we were.

Of course, we never quite made it to Santiago. It would have taken us another three or four years. At least.

But one thing I learnt during these walks was that as long as you keep going (even limping along) you’re fine. You’ll get wherever you wanted to get that day. As long as you kept going. Pádraig being Pádraig, there even was a day he got there ahead of the rest of us because a Spanish lady, mother of a large family living in a tiny village in the middle of Castille, on a Sunday at lunch time, ordered her son to give Pádraig a lift to the next village. The son wasn’t too enthusiastic at first, and Pádraig, to be fair, tried to back off out of this kind of difficult situation, but the mother insisted. El pobre hijo con todo el peso en sus hombros… ¡claro que había que llevarle! Ningún problema. Con gusto. ¡¡¡Besos y abrazos!!! The rest of us just kept walking, and we caught up with Pádraig in the first ‘Bar’ of the next village where he had managed to be offered the exceptionally economic menú del día. Recognize anything?

Talking about walking… Here is the last image from the snámh.

What a nice front page! Haven’t seen the paper yet, but Caoimhe NíMhuilleoir will have her ‘snámh diaries’ published on pages 4 and 5 of Seachtain tomorrow!

Back to the walk – or run: A brief reminder that if you want to join a group of women running the Flora Mini Marathon for Pádraig, you will have to register for the event by this coming Friday. Click here to go to the event page and register.

One of the really nice nurses looking after Pádraig today tried out something really exciting: she brought in an apple and an orange. We took a slice from the apple and rubbed it on his tongue and his lips. It as amazing to see how curious he was to find out what this item around his mouth was, how he touched  it with his tongue when we asked him to do so. – The ‘experiment’ with the orange was even more exciting: when we held a piece of orange close to his nose, we could clearly see his nostrils picking up the really nice smell from the orange. I am sure this was as exciting for him as i was for us.

Today’s German Music Tip
Cochise, Rauchzeichen. Anfang der 80er live in the “Auslandsshow” on German TV. Not sure how good your German is but even if you understand little you’ll realize how nothing has changed over the decades – I love the comments people posted …

Werdet ihr erst dann einseh’n, dass Ihr Euer schönes Geld auf der Bank nicht essen könnt, welch’ Menge ihr auch nennt?

Check out the lyrics by Ape, Beck and Brinkmann here.

What’s hot
We
What’s cold
I

The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Rauchzeichen

Twitter: @forPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org

Joni Mitchell has this song, Big Yellow Taxi, of which two lines came to my mind today. The second line was:
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

I had to think about it because it says so much about what is going on today all around us: what counts is the functional, the practical; how cares about beauty, the irrational?

Well, Snámh Phádraig for me was a lesson that there is still some paradise left. None of what these (almost) 50 swimmers did made any sense. It was complete bonkers. Who in their right mind would take off a weekend to jump into freezing cold water and then climb back into the bus to do it a gain, and again, and again – 17 times in under 40 hours. No ‘parking lot’ builder would ever do anything like this. Yet, not only did they do it, but they mobilized thousands of people around the globe to support them in their attempt to support Pádraig’s treatment.

We told Pádraig about the snámbh organized for his support over the weekend. – He is getting better now, almost everyday. Today, his left hand started to move; both of his feet moved and he tried really hard to lift up his legs. We were showing him the Nuacht coverage and yes – Maria and Aodhán and all the others did a marvelous job!

Yet, today, it was the first news item on TG4 Nuacht at 7pm and the second news item on RTÉ Nuacht at 6pm, right after the big news on global warming. It was also a news item on many radio channels and reported on in TheJournal.ie. It will also be on TG4’s Róisín programme tomorrow.

It was a news item on many radio channels and reported on in TheJournal.ie. It will also be on TG4’s Róisín programme tmorrow.

50 friends swim in 17 counties over 38 hours for “loyal and fun” friend in a coma

The first line of Joni Mitchell’s song I remembered today was:
You don’t know what you’ve got
til it’s gone.
No wiser words have ever been spoken.

The pragmatic snámh finished today, the spiritual snámh will be with us forever.

Thank you Aodhán, his helpers, all the swimmers, the pubs offering food and shelter, and the family and friends who so generously supported the swimmers, and therefore Pádraig!

Those who would like to support an individual swimmer can do so here for the next four weeks; http://www.idonate.ie/766/snamh-phadraig/

Today’s German Music Tip
Angi Domdey, Unter dem Pflaster (1976). Version from 1981, Angi wrote the song on her way to Hamburg in 1976 to found the women-only band ‘Schneewittchen’. She says that this is a song for ‘Phantasie’ and against the established, hardened structures of our society, against the concrete jungle of our cities, and the fossilization of our thoughts and deeds. The stones taken from the street were not meant to be thrown, but to uncover the sand under the stones and to make room to dance. The lyrics are really nice.

1. Komm laß dich nicht erweichen,
bleib hart an deinem Kern,
rutsch nicht in ihre Weichen,
treib dich nicht selbst dir fern.

Unter dem Pflaster
ja da liegt der Strand
komm reiß auch du
ein paar Steine aus dem Sand.

2. Komm laß dir nicht erzählen,
was du zu lassen hast
du kannst nur selber wählen,
nur langsam, keine Hast.

Unter dem Pflaster …

3. Zieh die Schuhe aus,
die schon so lang dich drücken
lieber barfuß lauf,
aber nicht auf ihren Krücken.

Unter dem Pflaster …

4. Dreh dich und tanz,
dann könn’ sie dich nicht packen
verscheuch sie ganz
mit deinem lauten Lachen.

Unter dem Pflaster …

5. Die größte Kraft
ist deine Phantasie
wirf die Ketten weg
und schmeiß sie gegen sie,
die mit ihrer Macht
deine Kräfte brechen wollen.

Unter dem Pflaster …

What’s hot
Open fires
What’s cold
The Ocean
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Die größte Kraft ist deine Phantasie

Twitter: @forPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org