Böll died the year I got married. Like many Germans, my love for Ireland developed when reading his Irish Journal. Böll had a cottage on Achill Island and published the Journal the year Pat was born. So there are many connections. (There are always connections if you search long enough.) One of Böll’s most famous stories, however, is his “Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral“, or: Anecdote Concerning the Lowering of Productivity”. He wrote it for a May Day programme for the NRD, the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in 1963, the same radio station from where Pat gave the interview on Cormac ag a Cúig about a week ago. (Yet another connection.)

Yesterday’s post made someone think of this story, and when I read it again today, I felt a rush, an urge, a spirit, like that of many years ago. In short, it’s a story about a fisherman looking relaxed out at the sea and a stranger telling him that if he only took advantage of the ideal whether conditions and worked really hard, he could earn so much money that he could then retire, relax, and just look out at the sea on days like these – to which the fisherman responded: that is exactly what I am doing right now.

People say it in different ways. Life is not a rehearsal. It is always “now”. There is no future that’s going to be better. If you want change, change now. Nobody ever said on his deathbed: had I only worked harder and stayed more time in the office. We are social, we think, we are free.

The trouble is, that it might sound and seem, cool and romantic to think that way when things go more or less in the right direction. When life has just stopped and you wonder why the world’s hasn’t stopped too, it takes a lot to think and feel that way: that, ultimately, you are in charge, not of what happens to you, but of how you deal with it. Opting out is not an option. You are social. Never alone. Not out into the wild. You are your family, your friends, your neighbors. What helps me is stepping back, from a distance the world looks blue and green, and for moments I feel like Böll’s fisherman, unable to understand what all our common worries are about.

When we were with Pádraig today, he was grand. He opened his eyes when we got into his room, he reacted with his hand when we were talking to him or asked him to give us a squeeze, as almost every day, and his general condition was good. I finally managed to  get all the song you proposed together onto a CD. A lot of it is really good music for dancing. As many of you, when i listened to this music with him today, I could see him dancing, and was wondering whether that is what he saw too,

One day, after the rose garden, we will have a big party, with plenty of food and drink, and the best of music. We’ll learn the lyrics off by heart. We will sing them along while dancing the night away, not worried at all about tomorrow, living in the now.

Wenn du so bist wie dein Lachen,
möchte ich dich wiedersehn,
krumme Dinger mit dir machen,
streiten über tausend Sachen,
mit dir schwimmen nach Athen.

—

Wenn du so bist wie dein Lachen,
würd ich für dein Wohlergehn,
daß die Knochen nur so krachen,
auf dir Purzelbäume machen,
und dich kitzeln an den Zehn.

Today’s German Music Tip
Ina Deter, Wenn Du so bist wie Dein Lachen (1976). Incredible, but true: this song came 10th in the competition to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest. In my Cologne Wohngemeinschaft being able to sing along Ina Deter’s song was a prerequisite, for the girls; boys had to be able to hum along, at least. I had completely forgotten about this music.

What’s hot
Time
What’s cold
Arbeitsmoral
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Abstellgleis

Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Upcoming events: http://www.caringforPadraig.org/events

One night on the Late Late Show, some mad man said he was going to get water and plastic bottles, fill the plastic bottles with the water, and then sell the bottled water. The whole country went hysterical with laughter. It went on for the whole night, and all of the following week. Did you hear the man on the Late Late saying that is going to sell bottled water? Would you ever…! Who on earth would pay for bottled water when you just had to open the tap to get the same stuff for free?

A few year later on, supermarkets have isles full of water, water from Ireland, from Italy, from France, from I don’t know where. And people buy it. A lot. Someone had done some magic.

For me, this is a perfect example of how we are working hard, to earn as much money as possible, which we will then spend on stuff that we could get for free – which renders a lot of our money and all the time we spend at work to earn it, pretty useless. What if we decided to work less, earn less money, and only buy what is not free and less of it. It would probably bring down the economy, but it would very likely make us happier people.

Pádraig’s friends told me a few things about him recently which I had heard about before but which had not really registered: apparently, he is the only person they know (or just one of very few) who would use a disposable camera. He also never wanted a smartphone (a phone is a phone and not a computer). He is, they said, someone who had an opinion of his own about things, a sense of right or wrong, and it didn’t matter whether that was popular or not. Try to make sense out of this: if you didn’t know Pádraig, you’d think they were talking about a person from the ‘old’ school, not a fun-loving, full of energy being, singing and dancing a 23-year old.

When I went into Pádraig’s room today, it smelt really nice but I couldn’t make out what it was…

He was good today, struggling his way through long days, hard work with the therapists, sitting in the viva-la-Thekla with bare legs – it’s so warm here. The sky is blue, the first buds are out, there is summer in the air. Voices are coming up into his room from a downstairs balcony. Trains rush by in the distance, the S1 into town in one, and to the airport into the other direction. Birds are singing. One thing he was doing really really well today was swallowing – and while this doesn’t sound very impressive, if he manages to swallow well, he’ll be able to get rid of the tracheostomy, definitely.

Later it turned out that, in the morning, therapists had turned Pádraig onto his stomach for about 20 minutes or half an hour, yet another first, and Pádraig being the tall man he is, not so easy to do! But lying on your stomach should stimulate your swallowing. With Pádraig it seems to have done the trick!

Another really nice thing today was that the nurse that has been looking after him more than anyone else lately, had tried to stimulate his sense of smell with some different oils. Amazingly, the one he reacted to most (and the one I had smelled when I came into the room) was lavender – which is not just Pat’s but was also Pat’s mother’s favourite flower and smell. Someone had done some magic today.

Tonight, instead of the Today’s German Music Tip – a clip for our non-Irish-based friends, and our younger friends, who have never seen the ‘real’ Late Late Show, the worlds longest running chat show: the intro.

What’s hot
Water
What’s cold
Bottled water
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Mensch Meier, das ist ja ‘n Ding!

Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Upcoming events: http://www.caringforPadraig.org/events

Bombs exploded on a commuter train and Pat’s mother was literally blown over by a storm when she left mass today, ten years ago. I was in a taxi on the way back into Madrid, having given a talk at a University just outside of the city, when Pat rang me really worried. She had heard about the bombs and wanted to know whether I was alright. She was also really worried about her mother who had to go into hospital.

Spring has arrived!

I went into the hospital to visit Pádraig today, the hospital that he has been in for the past four months today, only interrupted by a few weeks over the New Year in the UKE. I was not really worried. In a way, and for the time being, there is no need to be worried about Pádraig’s physical condition. He is relatively stable at the moment. There have been few surprises. His breathing is ok, his heartbeat is fine, there have been no infections, his temperature is fine. There are even small but noticeable improvements in the way he can move his limbs and in the way he can react to requests.

Then I realized that going into hospital has become my life, being in hospital Pádraig’s. Four months in Hamburg today, following four months in Beaumont, following just over two weeks in Cape Cod Hospital. I cried my eyes out on the way, not because I was worried, but because I am still not able to cope with the enormity of what happened. Sometimes I

The roses in the rose garden are getting ready for Pádraig’s date(s)

think, I should just grab him, lift him out of his bed, and walk out with him. This 23-year old does not belong into a hospital bed. We should not worry about the figures on the monitors showing his heart beat. We should be worried about which person his heart is beating for, that they would look out after each other. and never ever being tempted to break each other’s heart. He should be out of breath after a good swim, not because he sat out in the viva-la-Thekla for four hours. He should be drinking Guinness, Vodka and Wine, not being fed liquid food of a definitely unattractive colour.

Luckily, two really good friends of Padraig’s were here for a visit who brought up our spirits and allowed us to have ‘normal’ conversations. I would never have met them in my life had it not been for Pádraig. They would never even had thought talking to me had it not been for him.

4 months today since Pádraig first arrived here.

Patrick spent a few months during his transition year all by himself in Berlin in the German Olympic Training Centre, training with some of most talented German swimmers. On his first day there, he rang us from a tram (we were in Leitrim) in a panic saying he had gone in the wrong direction – an experience that all of us who have come to Hamburg because of Pádraig are quite familiar with. Against all odds, he found his way back. A few months later, he won in a swimming competition against all odds, and to the surprise of his coach who couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw this young, laid back, tall and thin fellow beat her champions. “Willkommen in Berlin” is one of my favourite songs by Udo Lindenberg, it’s also the title of his musical running in Berlin.

Schritte ins Niemandsland.
Mit leichten Fuß durch die Nebelwand,
wo vor dir noch keiner war,
und was vor dir noch keiner sah!

Schreib’ die Gesetze neu,
und bleibe nur dir selber treu.
Der crazy Mann geht mit lockerem Gang
unter grünen Linden lang.

Seid willkommen in Berlin!
Ihr Verrückten gehört da hin.
Komm, wir brauchen den Wahnsinn.

Today’s German Music Tip
From Udo Lindenberg’s Hinterm Horizont – Berlin, the musical
What’s hot
Wahnsinn
What’s cold
Langeweile
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Das ist ja der glatte Wahn!

Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Upcoming events: http://www.caringforPadraig.org/events

‘Kaffeetrinken’ has really nothing, or if, then only marginally, got to do with ‘drinking coffee’. You could drink coffee any time of the day, but ‘Kaffeetrinken’ you can only do in the afternoon. The most prominent feature of ‘Kaffeetrinken’ is, surprisingly, not coffee, but cake: Kuchen, Torten, ‘Teilchen’. So why, you might ask, is it not called ‘afternoon tea’? Because ‘afternoon tea’ is not really about the tea either.

Both ‘Kaffeetrinken’ and ‘Afternoon Tea’ are mostly about company. You take some time out to catch up with your friends. The rest is just ‘Drumherum’, decoration. The essence of company is the reason to live. We would not be able to exist was it not for others. If no one cared, what would be the point?

When we were in Cape Cod Hospital, really really scared, absolutely and utterly confused, when we hardly slept or ate, I experienced this for the first time: people emerged from nowhere. They were with us. They spent days and nights with Pádraig. They helped. They were company. When we decided to bring Pádraig to Dublin, our American friends said, you’ll have loads of support when you get back. I didn’t quite understand what they were talking about, most likely, they didn’t either because what happened was not like anything I ever experienced in my life (and I am old-ish).

After the concert in Colaiste Eoin, someone said to me “what Pádraig did last night, most of us do not achieve in a life time”. I think it goes way beyond this, because that night, Pádraig himself did not do anything. Yet, he made this huge impact. He did this by becoming the catalyst for what people are most yearning for: to be loved, to feel compassion, belonging, caring, and company.

Pádraig had an ok day today. Two friends arrived from Dublin and kept him company. They will be here for another day and will share their friendship with him. There is no way that he will this just allow to pass by, or ignore it, or not notice it. Feeling the presence, the energy, the love of your family and friends is the reason to live, because they need you. What would they do without you? That’s why he will get better, and better, and better. He’s just taking his time. But he will not allow any of us to ever be without him.

Today’s German Music Tip
Rosenstolz, Ich hab genauso Angst wie Du (2006)
What’s hot
Company
What’s cold
Loneliness
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Alles Käse

Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Upcoming events: http://www.caringforPadraig.org/events

Who needs enemies when you’ve got friends like this? Last night, a good “friend” said, “ok, let’s do it”. So tomorrow morning, I will register for the Hamburg Marathon. Just to see how things are going, I took advantage of the incredible weather here, temperatures went up to 20 degrees celsius today, and ran 16km. After that, I was very tempted to drive to the hospital (no, not in an ambulance) but, surprisingly, I even managed to walk up the stairs to Pádraig’s 4th floor ward.

However, they didn’t let us in to Pádraig’s room when we arrived this afternoon. We were getting a little worried as it was taking quite a while. But then, when they finally let us in, it turned out that they had put on his green Éigse t-shirt, and what a difference it made to the way he looks! And he must have realized himself that he was not wearing a hospital gown anymore but the t-shirt of one of his favorite events! Weekends are usually quiet, and this one was no exception. When there was a quiet moment, I counted the months, and got mixed up. I thought it had been almost eight months, when in fact it has been almost nine since the accident. When I start looking back at this time, I stop. When I think about the future, I find it difficult too. Tomorrow is another day, and nobody knows what it’ll bring.

Talking about running: Check out the Facebook page for Run the Mini Marathon For Pádraig – Every Step makes a difference! The Women’s Mini Marathon is coming up on June 2nd. There will be a group of Runners doing this 10k challenge in aid of Pádraig, to help with the many and various costs associated with his care and recovery. I will include all these details on the event page of http://www.caringforpadraig.org as well.

From running to swimming: There is just a little more than 1 month left to Snámh Phádraig which will kick off on 12 April. This is an incredible adventure: a swim off the coast of every county in Ireland that has a coast. There aren’t many places left, so if you want to join in, send and email to the organizer as soon as possible: snamh@aodhanodea.ie

In the meantime, Lynn Fitzmaurice and Irene Clonan, two master swimmers of Atlantis Swimming Club (based at Markievicz Leisure Centre, Townsend Street, Dublin 2, and coached by Pádraig’s former Champion Coach Nicholas Bourke) will swim their first race (!) over a mile (!) on 04 April in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin to raise funds for Pádraig. Swim a Mile Challenge

Today’s German Music Tip
L. van Beethoven, from the 9th Symphonie, Ode an die Freude. From a concert at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to celebrate the 60th Birthday of the Federal Republic of Germany, 23 May 2009. There is also a version showing both the original German and the English translation. It starts with an invitation that is usually not shown when you look up the original lyrics by Schiller:
Oh Freunde, nicht diese Töne, sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen und freudenvollere.
What’s hot
Joy
What’s cold
Sadness
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Maaaaann – ist das heiß!

Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Upcoming events: http://www.caringforPadraig.org/events

I am not a lawyer. But there is a law that requires the governments of EU member states to pay for service abroad in another EU member state if a particular health service is required but is not available in the home country.

When we were panicking and frightened by the thought that Pádraig would be ‘kept’ – and there is no other word for it – on a high-dependency ward of an acute hospital, and started to talk to specialists in England and in Germany, we also talked to the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) consultant responsible for Pádraig. That consultant told us that while the HSE have an obligation to offer treatment abroad, she would not waste her time, as she was too busy with other important things, filling out HSE applications that would not materialize.

If I was a lawyer, I would take the Government and the HSE to court for denying essential health care to its citizens.

Some of you might have seen the front page news of one of Ireland’s national tabloids, the Irish Daily Mail, with an extra inside page, AND an editorial. All this follows Pat’s interview on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta yesterday, and their subsequent press release. Apparently, Enda Kenny, our Prime Minister and Taoiseach, is preparing an answer to the letter we sent him last week. – It’s never too late. I put up the Irish Daily Mail articles on http://www.caringforpadraig.org if you want to check them out.

This is Pádraig in studio with Éadaoin Nic Giolla Bhríghde in Sept 2011. Cormac Ó hEadhra is presenter.

Ice cream castles in the air and feather canyons everywhere. But then, they can also block the sun. – Over the past days, I have been thinking (!) about what it might feel to be in a bed for many months, not being able to taste or to smell. I talked to a nurse who said that part of their education was to become the patient for a short while. She said that even being moved, say from the Thekla into the bed, was an incredible experience. She said the experience of not knowing and not seeing what was going on was terrifying. Lowering the back with the head into a horizontal position felt like as if one was just about to fall off a cliff.

For the first time ever, we saw Pádraig’s heartbeat go down to 57 beats a minute, something we had never seen before. We were about to call a nurse when we realized that 57 is kind of a normal beat when one is resting, as Pádraig was. He had two visitors with him today, old friends from Dublin, but was very relaxed and a bit sleepy today. That is good during the weekend that he is able to gather his strength for Monday.

The article in the Irish Daily Mail today talked about Pádraig as a ‘refugee’. In a way, he has been very lucky and privileged that he was able to avail of the German health service when the Irish system failed him – one might think. In reality, the Germans are now picking up a huge bill, to cover for the Irish system that is failing some of its best and most vulnerable citizens.

I’ll leave it here for tonight.

Reinhard

Earlier today, Cormac Ó hEadhra interviewed Pat on RTÉ Raidio na Gaeltachta on “Cormac ag a Cúig”.

The full programme is also available on the RTÉ (Irish Radio) Raidio na Gaeltachta website (the interview starts at 00:16). RTÉ followed up on our Open Letter to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, T.D. Pat talked about Pádraig’s accident, his transfer from Cape Cod to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, the lack of adequate care and specialized neuro rehab services in Ireland, and Pádraig’s involuntary transfer to Hamburg.

This is Pádraig in studio with Éadaoin Nic Giolla Bhríghde in Sept 2011. Cormac Ó hEadhra is presenter.

The programme caused an incredible amount of activity. Pádraig would have been delighted to see what an Irish language programme can achieve: Apparently, there have been meetings between the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Health earlier today. The Taoiseach wrote a letter to us which was waiting for his signature after his meeting with my fellow German Angela, and Pat’s childhood friend Paul David Hewson, otherwise known as Bono (she has a confirmation picture with herself and the man with the pink glasses) down at the National Convention Centre. And that is not where the story ends. Later in the afternoon, a number of newspapers rang, among them the Independent and the Irish Daily Mail. We’ll see tomorrow to which extend they will report on the interview.

RTÉ also released a press release.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
Press Release

            Mother appeals to Taoiseach for improved Rehab services


Pádraig Schäler, 23, received a serious brain injury in an accident in the US last summer.  In an interview today on Cormac ag a Cúig on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta his mother, Patricia O’Byrne, described her experience of trying to get the correct medical treatment for her son, and the decision she made, together with her husband Reinhard Schäler, to pen an open letter to the Taoiseach titled: “This Broken Health System” earlier this week.

Due to the lack of adequate services for Pádraig’s care and rehabilitation in Ireland, the family has had to move to Hamburg, Germany, to ensure that he receives the care he needs.

Pádraig Schäler had just finished his studies in Trinity College last year when he went to the US on a J1 visa.  On 27 June he acquired a very severe brain injury when he was hit by a van while cycling on Cape Cod.  He had insurance, but because he was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, his insurance would not cover him.

Patricia told Cormac that they were inspired to write the letter to the Taoiseach after hearing his speech on Fine Gael’s new universal healthcare proposals.

Patricia explained that they transferred Pádraig, who remains in a coma, back to Ireland two and half weeks after his accident.  He was brought to Beaumont Hospital, where he spent 4 months.

“All the experts stressed the importance of early rehab in cases such as Pádraig’s, but Pádraig was going to have to wait 1 year in Beaumont for a bed in the National Rehabilitation Hospital.  Even then, he would only receive 3 months of rehab.  There are only 3 beds in the whole country for people with injuries like Pádraig’s.  The experts all said that he would need 1.5 to 5 years rehab, so even after a 1 year wait, he would not get the care he needed.”

Patricia explained that Pádraig’s father, Reinhard, went to Germany and was told that Pádraig could not receive care there as he was not resident, so his parents made the decision to move there with their son so that he could get the care he needed.  Their two daughters remain in Ireland.

“It was a very difficult decision.  Pádraig has a great love for Ireland, and our lives are there – my work, my husband’s work, our family.  But here in Germany he is receiving excellent care, and the doctors have time to spend with him, to talk to him, to stimulate him.  They have given us much more hope for his future”.

The open letter to the Taoiseach was published on the website set up by the family,caringforpadraig.org, and can be seen here http://caringforpadraig.org/english/.

Patricia O’Byrne was speaking today from Hamburg on Cormac ag a Cúig on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.

–ENDS–
Issued by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta

Further information:
Caitríona Ní Bhaoill, Press Officer, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
086 8769585   caitriona.nibhaoill@rte.ie

Disclaimer: The information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution, or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Please note that emails to, from and within RTÉ may be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1997 and may be liable to disclosure.

Tá an t-eolas sa ríomhphost seo faoi rún agus d’fhéadfadh sé a bheith faoi phribhléid dhlíthiúil. Is ar an seolaí amháin atá sé dírithe. Níl cead ag aon duine eile rochtain a fháil ar an ríomhphost seo. Mura tú an faighteoir beartaithe, tá cosc ar aon nochtadh, cóipéail, dáileadh, nó aon ghníomh a dhéanamh nó a fhágáil ar lár i dtaca leis an ríomhphost agus d’fhéadfadh sin a bheith mídhleathach. Tabhair ar aird le do thoil, d’fhéadfadh ríomhphost chuig, ó agus laistigh de RTÉ a bheith faoi réir an Achta um Shaoráil Faisnéise 1997, agus d’fhéadfadh go ndéanfaí é a nochtadh.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

When I was finished writing up my rather long and winding meanderings about control or no control, about being able to determine one’s life or being a pawn in someone’s much larger game plan, I had another thought which is much shorter, much more pragmatic, and much more to the point. So here it is:

If you get sick you get treated for that sickness. If you have cancer, you get cancer treatment; if you have a kidney problem, you will be treated in a renal clinic. If you have a brain injury in Ireland, you have a right to appropriate treatment lasting three months. That’s it. Until you receive that treatment, you are kept in an acute ward; after that treatment, if your condition continues, you are transferred back to that acute ward or you are sent to a home. As simple and as horrific as that.

So, following this short intro, here is tonight’s earlier update.

“God exists. It’s not you. So just relax.” That’s what a priest once said to Matteo Renzi, Italy’s new prime minister, according to a recent article in Der Spiegel, a German weekly news magazine. I really like that. It’s short. It’s to the point. Give up the illusion of control.

Pádraig had a more ‘normal’ day today. Or maybe his interaction with us, the doctors and nurses has become something that has become almost ‘normal’. Again, this interaction is not much more than reacting in a basic, but nonetheless significant, way to very simple stimuli or requests. Of course, we would like to see more of this interaction and would do anything to make that happen. He has not eaten anything in more than eight months, not tasted any kind of food in all that time. I have no idea what that means, but it’s an incredible deprivation of very basic senses.

Control, or rather the lack of it (you are not God) is sometimes hard to accept. Because we are being told multiple times every day that we can get anything we want and that we can be anybody we want to be: we just have to put on the right deodorant, wear the right clothes, drive the right car, eat the right food, spend our holidays in the right resort. So we become frustrated, because we don’t have enough money for this particular perfume, we cannot afford these really nice jeans, we are still driving the 07 banger, and we have to spend our holidays with the in-laws in the country.

Now, if it was true that God exists, that He was not me or you or one of us, then I could truly relax. No need to worry. No reason to try and influence things that God had already figured out anyway. Trying to control anything when control itself is an illusion would, indeed, be pathological.

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

Today’s German Music Tip
W. A. Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (from the 2006 Festival in Salzburg). You’ll need 3 hours to watch this – but it’s sheer pleasure. If you don’t have 3 hours, listen to Edita Gruberova singing in 1971 one of the most famous Aria from that opera: “Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen”. Translate that.
What’s hot
Signs
What’s cold
Certainty
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Mensch Meier! Hab’ ich gar nicht dran gedacht zu kaufen! (When you are stopped on the S-Bahn by a conductor / ticket controller and asked for your ticket.)

Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Upcoming events: http://www.caringforPadraig.org/events

You are the master of your own life. You can choose what you want to do and you can choose what you do not want to do. Your choices determine the course of your life. If you want change, if you believe that things should go into a different direction in your life, it is up to you make those changes. You are standing at the wheel, you are the captain of this vessel, and you determine its course.

Except, when you aren’t and when you can’t. Which is a lesson that life, sooner or later, is going to teach you. It’s a lesson in humility, it’s a lesson in the need to accept things that are out of your control. It’s a hard lesson to learn. Being in control is so much easier.

If you really had a choice, which life would you choose? Would it be better? Would a life without difficult moments, without grieve and pain, be a better life? Would it be really better if you could eliminate all the bad stuff, or would you turn into Bruce Almighty who messed up the whole wide world playing the good and caring God for a few days, a God that protects each and everyone of us from harm? Would you really enjoy a life in which you did not have to count on the solidarity and compassion of your family, of your friends, of strangers?

Yesterday had been one if not ‘the’ best days for Pádraig in a long time. Today, he topped it again. He opened and closed his eyes on ‘command’ – another first. Even better: he did this not just for the Oberärztin; when she called the Chefarzt to show him Pádraig’s progress, he did what he usually does not do: he repeated it for the Chefarzt.

Today, we received, by hand, from a friend, a booklet that friend’s aunt, a primary school teacher in Donegal, had prepared with her second class students who have all been praying for Pádraig ever since his accident. The students are around 8-9 years old.

They all wrote letters to Pádraig, telling him that they had heard about his accident, that  they are praying for him every day, and – wait – they wrote down in their letters their favourite jokes for Pádraig to cheer him up. Here is a sample: “Why did the Jelly Baby go to school? – Because he wanted to be a Smartie.” If you have children, if you are close to children, or if you are still young at heart, this must be the most moving ‘post’ you could ever get.

Think about it. This most beautiful, hand made present with the prayers and the jokes from Ryan, Shannon, Laoise, Lorcan, Ross, Caolán, Aod, Andrew, Molly, Saoirse, Cormac, Caillon, Leah, Conor, Aísling, Rónán, Jude, Jack, and Olwyh, from 8, 9 and 10 year old kids who never met Pádraig in person, is an incredible outpour of love and compassion from kids far up in beautiful Donegal. I will show this booklet to Pádraig tomorrow and I am sure, it will give him a big big boost of energy and laughter that will make him better! Absolutely!

Today’s German Music Tip
Jupp Schmitz, Am Aschermittwoch ist alles vorbei (1953)
What’s hot
Straight out
What’s cold
Scheming
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Na ja, wenn’s der Wahrheitsfindung dient!

Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Upcoming events: http://www.caringforPadraig.org/events

For the first time in 15 years, I am no longer the proud holder of an annual Iarnród Éireann ticket.

I really admired him. He usually arrived before me. His eyes were covered with one of those eye covers you used to get on transatlantic flights. His earphones connected to a portable radio. His ticket on the table in front of him, so that the conductor would not have to wake him up. No doubt, he was a seasoned traveller. It was perfection. All angles covered. I was a novice trying to learn, trying to see what I could pick up from the regulars. We never exchanged a word. Never even said hello. Eight years later, we were waiting for the Dublin train at Limerick Junction, as always. For the first time ever, he came over to me and said ‘Hello, you have been traveling on this train for a long time, haven’t you?’ – ‘Yes, but not half as long as yourself’, I replied still in shock that this man, my daily travel companion for years, who had never even acknowledged my existence, all of a sudden was talking to me. He continued: ‘Well, to be honest, I had been on the train for just a few days when you turned up first. I got a promotion but had to move to Limerick for it. It was going to be just for a couple of years. Well, it took a bit longer, but today is my last day. And before leaving my life on the train behind, I wanted to say hello and goodbye to you.’ And that’s where we left it. That’s how I lost my friend, the traveller. I never had a chance to say good bye to the train, to the people I got to know, the conductors. For them, I just disappeared from the face of the earth…

Pádraig sat out twice today, another first, as far as I know. About four hours each time. It was amazing how well he managed these long hours without showing any significant signs of fatigue. He is training very well and his physical condition is getting better almost every day. His music therapy today involved tapping the Bodhrán. He closed and opened his hand, and moved his tongue out a bit – all on command.

Today, I got a phone call from RTE who will be reporting on the open letter we wrote (and two of his friends so skillfully translated into Irish) to Enda Kenny on one of their daily news programmes on RnaG at 5pm, Mon-Fri. They will also send it on to the Minister of Health, James Reilly, T.D., to see whether he has any comments.

Pancake Tuesday today. No music.