November 3, 2010
The Bucket List
I haven’t really had anything thought-provoking to say lately, so I thought I’d write something a little more fun. I have not seen the movie, but it seems “The Bucket List” has inspired a lot of people to make up their own list of things they want to accomplish before they die. I am no exception. The items on my list are in no particular order. I’m just writing them down as I think of them. Some are serious, some silly and frivolous. Maybe one or two of them are pipe dreams. Lots of places I want to see. Here goes!
1. Hear my children accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and watch their father baptize them
2. Watch my daughter get married
3. Hold a grandbaby
4. Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
5. Set Pierce up in his own place and help him cash a paycheck
6. See my sister completely healed
7. Have every project in this house DONE
8. Have every square inch of our 4-acres look beautiful and worthy of a garden tour (or wedding)
9. Relearn the piano (I took for 8 years, and can’t remember a thing! Tragic, really.)
10. Become a professional photographer
11. Become a Master Gardener
12. Use my love of gardening and photography to start my own business
13. Have all of my pictures in albums, complete with stories and historical family events documented
14. See the Grand Canyon
15. Help decorate a Rose Bowl Parade float
16. Go to Italy
17. See Europe’s oldest, most beautiful gardens (like Monet’s)
18. Go to Hawaii
19. Have a screened-in porch
20. Have a greenhouse
21. Read all of the literary classics
22. Watch every movie on the American Film Institute Top 100 list
23. Go to Paris in the spring
24. Go to the tulip festival in Amsterdam
25. Go to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC
26. Take a Mediterranean cruise
27. Learn how to ballroom dance
28. Hybridize a plant (probably a sunflower, iris or daylily)
29. Have a house-cleaning robot like Rosie from The Jetsons
30. Know that cancer, diabetes, autism, alzheimer’s, lupus and heart disease have been cured
31. Help families with special needs children either by being an Educational Aide in the school system or by being a parent advocate that attends IEP meetings
32. Research my ancestry; find out if there are any long-lost relatives out there
33. Write a barbershop arrangement of a popular song
34. Go to a DCI (Drum Corp International) World Championship Finals competition
35. Take The Sound Of Music tour in Salzburg. I want to spin on the mountain and belt out, “The hills are alive…”
36. See the National Holocaust Museum
37. See the 9/11 memorial in NYC
38. See The Nutcracker in NYC
39. Grow gladiolas as beautiful as my grandmother’s
40. Find the fat kid that I teased at the Fast Fare on Reidville Road when I was 12 and beg him to forgive me
41. Attend an opera at the Sydney Opera House
42. Have a painting done of one of my gardens, or learn to do it myself
43. Have my very own waterfall or other similar water feature
44. Make it through my entire life without a cavity. I’d really love to avoid any kind of dental work.
45. Be able to use floo powder or be “beamed up”. I hate to fly, and I’m not fond of long car trips, either. That’s going to be an obstacle with all of the places I want to see on my list. Hmmm.
46. Go to a showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the Belcourt Theater
47. Tour Pixar studios
48. Visit all 50 states
49. See the bright lights of Las Vegas
50. Tour a real castle
When I do “kick the bucket”, I don’t want my pale, worn-out, VERY DEAD body to be displayed for people to walk past and politely admire saying, “She sure does look good, doesn’t she?”. I want to be cremated, and I want my memorial service to be joyful. I want pictures of me with my family and friends, doing the things I loved. I’ve been told I have a memorable laugh, so if you can find video or audio of me laughing, that would be lovely. If MNC is still singing “Goodbye, World, Goodbye”, I want them there to sing it. Otherwise, use the track on our upcoming CD (shameless plug).
POST SCRIPT: I didn’t want to publish this post until I got 50 items on my list, but I’ve somehow managed to surpass my goal. I’m up to 62 now, so I’m going to see if I can get up to 100! I’ll bring you the rest of my list in a future post.
I don't know that I have any long term goals, I just set short term goals related to my interests. My last one was to cyclocross race.
I don't know if I could come up with anything for a bucket list. I might could if someone told me I had a very limited time to live, but that's very different idea to me since the question would not be, what would you like to do before you die, but rather how would you want to spend your last number of days.
The first question to me is like being overwhelmed by a huge menu at a restaurant.
The second question frees me to focus on what is most important to me, without having to keep all the stuff from my current life in motion.
My answer would be to spend some time with my family and let them know how much I love them, spend some time by myself reflecting on my life, do the things I love, (bicycling, working with my hands), and I would volunteer somewhere I felt I could be of use to someone else, since that gives me such happiness.
I guess I was approaching this more with the mindset of "what have I always wanted to do" than "how would I want to spend my final days". My answer to the latter question would look just like yours: spend time with those I love doing the things that bring me joy. I think it's great that you would want to volunteer! I bet if you thought for a few days, you'd come up with some place you'd like to visit or another biking adventure you want to tackle!
Love your list, Melissa. Some things on there I never would have thought of, but since you mentioned them, now I want to do or experience them! Some of the things you listed, I have been able to do already and when you get to do/see them, you will love them. I love how a lot of your list is about seeing/experiencing the beauty that is all around us. That says a lot about you. You see beauty in the things and events around you whether it is a waterfall, your daughter's wedding, or a painting. As for your #26 — we're saving for that cruise and plan to go in 2012. Come go with us!! 🙂
Donna Root