I don’t have a list of stuff I want to do before I “kick the bucket.” As I thought about what I’d put on that list, I doubt I could do most of the activities anyway. Too old. Too out of shape. Not wealthy enough. Too lazy.
I found a bunch of Google references about what people say they want to do before they die. It includes things like seeing the Northern Lights, running a marathon, going on safari, walking along the great wall of China, skydiving, and activities like this. I’m not gonna do any of these. I’ll just watch National Geographic channel or get the DVD. Sort of a vicarious bucket list.
Bucket lists are for younger people….much younger. If you’re in your 20’s or 30’s, get going on your bucket list. Otherwise, by the time you’re my age, it ain’t gonna happen. Seriously, start now. Even though I don’t have a list, I do have experiences. My “been there, done that” bucket list looks like this.
I’ve been to Paris, the Louvre, Stonehenge, Land’s End, Le Mont Saint-Michel, St Michael’s Mount, and eaten Indian food in Delhi, India. I’ve seen the Rocky Mountains and the Grand Canyon, visited Gettysburg and been in the delivery room when my daughter was born. I have seen a bald eagle in the wild and traveled enough to fill 1 1/2 passports.
I served on a US nuclear submarine, been through a “Blue Nose” initiation, avoided going to Viet Nam in the 1960’s, and grew up listening to the best rock and roll music ever made. I’ve raised 2 amazing kids (OK, Kathy did most of that), seen the milky way, looked at the rings of Saturn in a telescope and played a musical instrument. Six grandchildren have sat on my lap while I read them stories.
I’ve been in the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean, North Sea, and Arctic Oceans. I go to church, believe in God, am going to Heaven when I die, write a little, do some watercolor painting and mixed media, and been married to the same woman for almost 49 years.
I’ve walked the beaches at Normandy with a man, my father-in-law, who was a medic on D-Day, June 6, 1944. I have seen the Blackhawks, Cubs, White Sox, and Chicago Bears win championships and had my picture taken with Muhammad Ali.
Not a bad list. Do you have one?
The Chronicles of Egydyus Flombosi 