Expiration Date Approaching

August 22, 2012

You know you’re aging when your Medicare card arrives in the mail. You have officially achieved the rank of Senior Citizen. There simply is no sugarcoating it. There are two choices, either embrace the reality or continue to live in denial. Since I do not want to be known as "Cleopatra, Queen of Denial," I have chosen to embrace the reality. The way I figure it, given my family history, I have approximately fifteen years to live the way I want before my body grinds to a halt. Logically, I should seriously get cracking on my "bucket list" before I’m pushing up daisies.

Bucket lists are either written or mental lists of all the things you feel are important to accomplish before you "kick the bucket." When I watched the movie The Bucket List, I started thinking about what I’d like to add to my personal bucket list. The list in the movie was very ambitious and involved some very expensive travel, but I prefer a simpler approach. My bucket is partially filled. I have been lucky enough to witness an Olympic gold medal ceremony with our flag and national anthem. I’ve roasted marshmallows over a lava flow in Hawaii, walked on a glacier in Alaska, and been to all but five of the lower forty-eight states. I’ve raised a family, been married for nearly forty years to a good man, and known the joy of giggles with girlfriends. My list still has whale watching and Merrie Monarch Festival in Hawaii, visiting more of our beautiful national parks, Canada’s Banff National Park, sunsets in the Florida Keys, Disney World with my grandchild, and visiting the last five states. I still have a pretty extensive list of books to read and some knitting projects to finish, but my bucket is full enough to make me happy.
 
I hope you are as lucky as I am and get a chance to fill your own bucket.

Jan Q.
North Oak Branch