Yesterday was practice day, today we all did it: we went for the full bath in the holy water, the whole family (not all together:). We asked Pádraig a few times on different occasions before we brought him back to the ‘piscines’ and each time he said ‘yes’ he wanted to do this. It was freezing. And cleansing in a way. We were accompanied by one of our friends and carer who took a bath himself. I’d say its something that’ll stay in our memories for a good time.

Capturing the Irish in Lourdes

Get your photo on a candle with the Virgin

Pádraig holding his candle during last nights procession

Homeless in Lourdes at 6am this morning

Our group of injured and sick with their helpers

A really difficult thing today was a pretty long ceremony involving the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. It is supposed to give courage, hope and strength to get better – rather than falling into a state of despair, amongst other aspects of it.

However, the ‘tone’ of the ceremony and the focus on the suffering of the sick created an atmosphere where several sick and injured people just burst out into tears and couldn’t contain themselves any longer. Life is hard, difficult, and, at times, almost impossible to take. The sick and the injured become the victims that you have pity for. But how would anyone be able to live a life that the rest of the world looks down on in pity? Pity has a time and a place. And then everybody has to move on to the exciting, positive, and can-do outlook on life. Injury or not.

One really nice thing we did was having a walk along the river.

How different Lourdes looks and feels in nice, warm sunshine!

Today Pádraig met a few men from Armagh who did what you do a lot in Lourdes, they prayed. With him. In Irish.

The miracle of Lourdes for me, when I was here some decades (!) ago for the first time with my grandmother, was that you could have a bath in the holy water and didn’t have to dry yourself: the water just disappeared from my skin. Later I heard that this is something that is supposed to happen to everyone. Ok, it made it a bit less of a personal miracle, but I still thought that this was really something…

Last year, Pádraig didn’t go to the baths, the bath came to him. Two very strong gentlemen, with a bit of help by myself, put him on a stretcher, carried the stretcher to the bathroom, put the stretcher on top of a bathtub, and first washed Pádraig with ‘normal’ Lourdes water, before giving him a second ‘wash’ with the real thing: pretty cold spring water from the holy well. It was a bit scary and required a very special operation during which we managed not just to put the whole bathroom but the whole floor and corridor under water as we noticed too late that the water outlet in the floor of the bathroom was blocked…

Note: the pictures above are not ones I made.

This morning, Pádraig went to the ‘piscine’ and, with the help of almost a dozen very dedicated helpers from France, Italy, Germany, and Ireland took the ‘light’ version of the Lourdes baths. He didn’t quite go into the tub, but was covered in wet towels and water head to toe.

They prayed a Hail Mary with him and gave him time to pray for his special intentions. They prayed the Hail Mary in German, then in English and then came the highlight that made Pádraig really really happy. One of the men from Armagh offered to pray the Hail Mary with him in Irish.

Sé do bheatha, a Mhuire,
atá lán de ghrásta,
Tá an Tiarna leat.
Is beannaithe thú idir mná,
Agus is beannaithe toradh do bhroinne, Íosa.
A Naomh-Mhuire, a Mháthair Dé,
guigh orainn na peacaigh,
anois, agus ar uair ár mbáis.
Amen.

You should have seen the smile on his face. I don’t think he’ll ever forget the man from Armagh! Neither will I!

“Frohe Pfingsten”, Happy Pentecost, is something you say in German today but, as I learned, not in English. It’s the day of one of the famous international masses in Lourdes when everything is said and sung in ‘tongues’ – how appropriate for pentecost!

The Armagh group coming into the underground Basilica

Carriers for those who can’t walk

The yellow sticker on the candle doesn’t show the price but the weight of the candle

The main church

You have to admire how the church has moved on from doing everything in (universal) latin to using a dozen different languages in the one mass. With songs being sung in different languages, by the same singer and supported by an international choir. – Something, the ‘localisation’ industry (those adapting digital contents for diverse linguistic and cultural ‘markets’) could learn from a lot.

Click here to watch today’s International Mass. And check out how Pádraig was doing each time they show the choir, like on 55:05, on the bottom right corner.

Here is a short (not-so-good-quality) extract of the live broadcast:

There is ample opportunity here to take pictures of ‘holy’ things you’d never thought existed even in your wildest dreams. Like this water feature:

You could give out non-stop about the commercialisation of what is supposed to be a holy pilgrims’ place. But why would you? The choice is yours. No need to go into the shops if you don’t want to. Personally, I think they are entertaining and awe-inspiring in more than one way. There is stuff on sale there that leaves you speechless, like the mints made with holy water.

Given that everything here is run by volunteers (except the masses: priests are paid employees) it is really amazing how everything is running like clockwork. This morning there were probably more than 10,000 people at this mass in the Underground Basilica – there was no shouting, no pushing, no angry scenes. It should put those people’s arguments to rest who say that if you want to get things done, you need to pay people a fair and decent salary. Not necessarily.

Lourdes attracts good people. But it is a place that has left me confused. There are so many things here that “should not” exist anymore, things that remind me of times gone by, for a long time. And I really do not want, do not want to look back, at what was or could’ve been.

My head is spinning.

There is a story about a woman with disabilities who came here to Lourdes as part of a group with other disabled people. One of the other disabled persons got cured. After this, the woman at the centre of the story did not go to Lourdes anymore for years. Eventually, she returned. When she was asked why she had stopped going to Lourdes after the healing of he other woman she said that she got afraid that she might be healed herself – she did not feel that she was ready anymore for a life without ‘dis=ability’. – Makes you think and wonder.

There is this really old German joke (an oxymoron like ‘military intelligence’:) asking why you would never dispose of nuclear waste on Mars? – Because “Mars bringt verbrauchte Energie sofort zurück” (from a famous add campaign by the makers of Mars bars: ‘Mars instantly returns/restores used energy’). Today it was Pádraig’s turn to call their bluff with his first Mars bar in a long time. It worked and he liked it!

There is loads of energy around in Lourdes. Not just in the form of Mars bars. It’s a place that really wouldn’t leave you indifferent.

There was loads of rain today (again), so in a way we were all lucky that they big blessing ceremony took place in the huge underground cathedral. It was some event. Chief celebrant was the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, Cardinal Seán Brady. For me, these almost over the top ceremonies are like time travel. They don’t seem to fit into our times anymore.

The underground cathedral got the biggest and most sophisticated dispenser of ‘holy smoke’ I’d ever seen. Good job there was a breeze blowing in the ‘right’ direction.

We found out today, that the huge golden crown on top of the main church was donated by Irish catholics. It’s the most distinguished and visible feature of the cathedral.

Pádraig will sleep in the Accueil, the hostel for the injuries and sick, without us for the second night. We have never left him with other people since he left the hospital, except for a few nights with his aunt, when Pat and I had to go to Boston for a few nights. We were very hesitant to do this here but nowhere in the world would you find more caring and reliable people than the one looking after those in need here. The level of trust we have developed with the people here is comforting: these are people you know will do anything in their power to help others because that is what they want to do, that is who they are, and that is how they see themselves. Their are no risk assessments, no forms to fill in, we haven’t exchanged one email with them, they have the greatest respect for Pádraig and for us. And I think that it must be great for Pádraig to fell and realise that he can be perfectly ok and safe even if we are not with him in the same room. One in Lourdes?

After a train journey of nearly 24 hours, we finally arrived in Lourdes at around lunch time.

Getting onto the train yesterday was really special. Even getting to the train was. Someone from the therapy centre gave us a lift to the train station and because we were a bit late packing up all our stuff and getting Pádraig ready, the owner of the therapy centre had prepared a huge food bag for Pádraig and us. Getting onto the train was again humbling. Everybody was so so helpful. And there were so many familiar faces from last year who were all so happy to see Pádraig again and who wanted to know how he was doing. When we got into Lourdes we hadn’t finished talking.

Pádraig is staying in the Accueil Notre-Dame, a hostel for injured and sick people of which one part has been taken over by our group: 50 sick and injured people looked after by around 60 helpers. The rest of the train, around 300 people, are staying in different hotels around town.

The same brilliant man as last year will be looking after Pádraig together with a new helper, sadly our friend from last year couldn’t make the trip this year. So Pádraig is amongst people he knows and who know him.

Lourdes is a place like no other. The atmosphere, the people, the surroundings – you wouldn’t find any of this anywhere else in this concentration. It’s wonderful to have had the time to getting here slowly. I have to think a bit more about what it is that made us come back. Equally, what it was exactly that brought us here in the first place. I know that the answer isn’t obvious.

Very briefly, on the way to Lourdes, stop in Toulouse, with some kind of internet connection… More when we’re there!

Our last full day in Pforzheim was a day of documenting Pádraig’s therapies and the way he is working with them – including two very recently hatched ducks. Pádraig worked really well not just with the therapists today but also with the film ‘crew’ (of one:). Can’t wait to see the footage. Cut.

If everything goes according to plan, the first of the short videos we are going to release will be ready within a couple of weeks, ahead of the launch the An Saol Project on 18 June. Have you booked your tickets for the film, “Would you rather be dead?”, and the launch with international experts as well as Headway Ireland and ABI Ireland yet?

Tomorrow morning we’ll be packing and head for Karlsruhe at around noon to catch the train to Lourdes at around 2pm. It’ll be another amazing journey.

Just back from a day of filming in the Therapiezentrum Burgau, about 2 hours’ drive from Pforzheim and supporters of the An Saol project. After Pádraig’s therapies this morning, my two friends collected me (driver and film maker) and off we went. It was a truly amazing day.

It’s late, so here are just a few pictures of the day – with a huge ‘thank you’ to Prof Bender, Herrn Ott-Schindele (in charge of therapy), and Christiane Knorr (deputy therapy lead) for the time they took to share with us their enthusiasm, energy, and dedication to persons with severe acquired brain injuries. A big ‘thank you’ also to my two friends who I will meet again tomorrow here in Pforzheim!

When you believe in something and you have decided to go for it, you are embarking on a journey full of traps: things that attract your attention, want to absorb your energy, look really attractive – if you fell for them, they would ultimately mean the end of what you stand for.

Sports people know this: they have to be careful with what they eat or drink, and late nights out on the town, no matter how attractive the ice cream, the cold refreshing beer, and the good looking boys and girls are.

There are plenty of traps on the way to An Saol. Why not look after Pádraig first and foremost and exclusively, it surely absorbs all of our energy? Why not follow the example of most of the other parents we’ve met? What about all the plans of all the people in all the enterprises and organisations promising care and therapy and rehabilitation? Convince them to do something! Fight the health system! We deserve better!

These are all attractive and reasonable questions and beliefs. In the context of An Saol, however, they are traps. If we fell for them, they would distract and they would absorb all our energy, make us helpless and dependent victims.

Which we are not because we are Dreamboaters. We know about all the stuff going on around us. We know about “keeping all our options open”, “not rocking the boat”, “working the system”. We know that the options are dire, the boat is sinking and the system is broken. We know that we need to create an inspiring example of what can be done for persons whose life changed beyond recognition from one second to the next.

Because that is what you do in a civilised society. The right thing.

The way to the realisation of the An Saol Project is full of traps. But we will sail down that stream with all those Dreamboaters ready to join. We won’t get trapped.

Pádraig is keeping well and showing very small but definite signs of better keeping his posture. I can’t believe that it’ll only be another two days before we leave here on Thursday. Tomorrow, I’ll meet a new friend and an old friend and together we’ll be going to the Therapiezentrum Burgau to interview and film Prof. Andreas Bender. This will be the beginning of about two weeks of interviews and filming for the An Saol Project – documenting what needs to be done.

“Whether you say ‘I can’ or ‘I can’t’ – you’re right. — Pádraig was enjoying a re-play of last night’s Late Late Show and especially this quote by Fergal Quinn. I kinda liked that too!

Sunday night in Germany is “Tatort” night. It’s when all Germans are watching one if not the longest running detective series on TV world-wide. Forget CSI or The Mentalist. They might be clever, but Tatort is German. Which is probably the reason why I have never managed, over several decades, to convince the rest of the family to join me watching it. Just heard that I’ll either be watching it on my own or not be watching it at all. Such is life. Full of choices.

I have this plan to get prepared really well for the Dublin Marathon. Not having been able to ‘run’ the Hamburg Marathon this year (it was on the day we flew to Frankfurt – what a brilliant excuse:), I want to be really well prepared for Dublin. But I can only train when someone is with Pádraig. So I’m quite a bit behind. Although I’m a bit behind, today I decided to stick to the plan which showed a 16km run. As it happened, I left a bit late and. by the time I got going, one of the hottest days of the year so far was well on its way.

I managed to get back up the hill to the Centre, just about, around lunchtime. I drank more than two litres of water which were just “absorbed”. After an hour or so I had recovered and we headed off to Pforzheim’s “Wildpark”.

Today being Mother’s Day, it was packed with families and loads of small kids running around. The only animals we saw were varieties of dear and goats – though some of the goats were labeled as “Alpaca”.

When we saw the picture of a young girl on a fence, we first thought that it was some kind of a memorial. On second thoughts, it seemed unlikely that – although she looked very young – one of the goats would have mauled her. When we looked closer and read the text beside her picture it turned out that Opa and Oma had bought here a bronze Wildpark sponsorship and the park had, as a ‘thank you’, put up a picture of the little girl for all her friends to see. Germans.

We kept walking and eventually hit a wood that was just perfect.

Somewhere around here, a long time ago, little red riding hood must have met the big bad wolf on her way to visit her old and feeble grandmother. I am saying ‘long ago’ because these days its lads on their super dooper mountain bikes who ‘inhabit’ the woods it seems – more dangerous than any bad wolf could ever be. Notwithstanding, we had a really beautiful afternoon out. It was, almost, a perfect day. (Though I’m still drinking water with absolutely no urge whatsoever to get rid of it again. I have no idea what’s happening with all this water.)

The new super junior minister, Finian McGrath, has been on the news pushing for the rights of people with disabilities – today, the six o’clock news also had Martin Naughton, one of the most enigmatic wheelchair users you could meet, demanding that the new disability act should be signed into law. – We change things! Right?