Pádraig is recovering well from the operation. Today they took out the iv catheter and stopped the antibiotics. The swelling on his head is still there but it is going down. He can’t get into the wheelchair yet, but he has started his attempts to talk again. I only realised how much he is trying when he couldn’t anymore during the days around the operation, because they had put in a ‘safe’ canula (tracheostomy) that they could block for the operation.

I played the videos to him this afternoon and he was wide awake and alert listening to the music. I keep telling him how much you, his friends, are doing to support his recovery, and how lucky he is to have such a loyal crew on his Dreamboat.

Me – I just made it before the first snow. Back to the garage near my German family’s home that has kept the winter tyres (remember the winter tyres?). After one of these long drives on a superfast German autobahn (wir fahrn, fahrn, fahrn, auf der Autobahn… see below) in a super small Korean car, I’ll be leaving again tomorrow, with proper winter tyres.

But before, there’ll be time tomorrow to visit my mother who is in a nursing home since she had a stroke that paralysed half of her body. She is always asking for Pádraig, always praying for him. One of the last pictures we have of Pádraig is from his last visit to my mother, just before he took off to Cape Cod – he knew he wouldn’t be home for her birthday, so he went to see her and wish her all the best.

I will show my mother the videos and play her the music, and I know she’ll be thrilled.

Andrew posted something on Facebook that I want to share with you.

(ENGLISH BELOW)…Bhuel a chairde. Bhí oíche aréir DOCHREIDTE. Slua ulmhór daoibh ann. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht teacht. Níl figúr crinn againn ar cé mhéid a d’ardaíomar, ach beidh go luath. Rinneamar taifead ar an rud ar fad agus beidh físeáin thuas go luath. Déanagaí CINNTE rá le gach duine gur féidir leo brontannas álainn a fháil don Nollag – ordaithe ar líne agus seolta sa phost ag www.amhrandophadraig.com

…………………………………………..ENGLISH…………………………..

Well friends. Last was INCREDIBLE. So many of you turned out, It was fantastic. Thank you so much for coming. We don’t have an exact figure on how much has been raised, but we will soon. We recorded the whole thing so videos will be up soon for anyone who missed out. Remember to remind everyone that they can get a BEAUTIFUL Christmas present for a friend or colleague at www.songforpadraig.com. Order it online and it’ll be sent in the post to your address!

He is right, of course. Thank you for coming, thank you for singing, thank you for your great company!

And here are the short videos I managed to get from last night’s launch. You’ll enjoy them. There’s one in there from Brooklyn, sent by Gabriel Corcoran, with his own rendition of the Dreamboat.

The Brooklyn “Dreamboat”

“Raglan Road” by a young Luke Kelly re-incarnation

“The Dreamboat – live”