The Bucket List

It has somehow become a big deal in recent years for people to come up with a Bucket List; a list of those things they want to see or do before they die. I suppose it's some sort of checklist intended to make staying alive more inviting than merely contemplating a boring future existence.

Some people fill their Bucket List with places they want to visit or people they want to meet; others create a list of activities they want to participate in.

I don't have a Bucket List.

It's not that there are not things I would like to see or accomplish before I die; it's just that it seems like I'm too busy trying to get through each day to worry about the things I want to do before I die. There is an ever-growing list of people and things demanding chunks of my time and money. Some of them; like my family and my boss, are certainly entitled to at least some of the demanded time. Other things; like yard work and the need for new tires, sneak in to steal the time and money that I should be spending on Bucket List sorts of things.

I imagine Diane is glad I don't have a Bucket List because, in my case, it would probably end up being a list of things involving a significant risk of causing me to kick said Bucket.

I've often told the boys - only half in jest - that they should go rappelling, skydiving, bungee jumping, cliff diving, motorcycle riding, wing walking, running with the bulls in Spain or SCUBA diving before they get married because, in all likelihood, their future wives will be quite unhappy when they suggest such activities after marriage.

I couldn't afford to do any of my preferred Bucket List things before Diane and I got married. I didn't really worry about it too much at the time because I figured there would be plenty of time for me to do some slightly adventurous things later in life. Diane was certainly never an overly adventurous sort, but I didn't think she would be too opposed to me participating in a few ever-so-slightly adventurous activities.

I was wrong.

After many years of discussing Bucket List activities with Diane I came to the conclusion that there must be some secret, magical ingredient in wedding cake that causes women to become focused on the future and child rearing and being responsible to the exclusion of the those things that would end up on my Bucket List!

I mean, really, what's the worst thing that could happen?

Okay, so I suppose I could die...

Isn't that what I have life insurance for?

As the years have gone by I have pretty much given up on creating a Bucket List. Instead, I have focused on other lists; like keeping track of the decreasing number of teeth I have in my mouth, ordering my joints by the degree of arthritis pain or tracking decibels of hearing loss.

While not nearly as exciting as those things that would end up on my Bucket List; I suppose they do give me things to check off before I die.