This weekend my daughter and I headed to Moab to watch my Dad experience skydiving for the first time. The entire family (5 kids and all their kids–13 grand kids–minus my brother) met in Moab to see the event live in honor of his 70th birthday! It was such a grand occasion we had to be escorted to the airplane hanger because our group was, “the biggest they had ever had.”  The kids had bubble wands to entertain them while they were waiting for the big jump, so we looked like we were having a party. There was a group of four other people waiting to watch their friends jump & they literally asked us if we were on a field trip or something. We all laughed out loud and explained the big party.

Life is too short and my Dad had wanted to jump his entire life, so we all pitched in to make it a weekend he would never forget. Truly, a weekend none of us will ever forget. Life is about occasions, those special events that make the memories that stay with us forever. None of us will ever forget watching the kids making bubbles that were covering the airplane runway and flying wildly into onlookers. It was magical and lol funny. The adults laughed as we watched our children list off the items they would get if Papa didn’t make it. Yikes!! They were yelling, “his arrowhead collection, his cheese, his car…” they were laughing and being so silly. They made up a special bubble wand salute they gave him as Papa landed and joined the group. A memory all of them will remember.    We all screamed and yelled and cheered as we watched their parachutes come in for the incredible landing. One of my sisters almost had a panic attack, a kind stranger was getting the whole group on video, and we all stood there in awe of their safe arrival and then laughed as our Papa was thrown to the ground by his chute and just laid there, almost as if he were so glad to touch the ground. My brother jumped with him, so the most priceless moment for me was seeing them embrace after their jump.

I did not know that my brother 15 years ago had talked to my Dad about going skydiving together one day. This weekend was that day. Checked off their bucket lists!! How AWESOME.

Another side story to bucket lists and how life is too short to wait to do the things your heart desires—last summer we had a dear family friend (40 years old) wake up and have a stroke that affected half of her body. She had to learn to walk again, and was in rehab for months and months. She still does not have full mobility back. It was a wake up call to me that life is too short. I had always wanted a convertible car. I always watched people drive around with the wind hitting their face, the wide open top to enjoy the sky, the sun, the beautiful world all around them. When she had her stroke we were in the process of looking for a new car. I told my husband, “life is too short. I want to get a convertible.” I wanted the memories of being together as a family driving up the canyon, going on trips with the top down, I wanted my one daughter to have special memories with me made in our convertible.  This weekend my daughter and I drove to Moab and enjoyed the Arches and Dead Horse Point parks while driving with the top down. We will both always cherish the moments of her filming from the top and getting all of the panoramic pictures her heart desired while we drove. I will always cherish watching her drift off to sleep with the wind whipping her hair and the sun shining down on us. Priceless.

What would you put on your life bucket list? What would you do? What can you do? What do you want to do? Here are some ideas that I have collected from all over the internet to get you thinking…there are a ton of links you can google, but here were some of my favorites. Some good questions to get you started (taken from personal excellence.co) What would you do if you had unlimited time, money and resources? What have you always wanted to do but have not done yet? What if you were to die tomorrow? What would you wish you could do before you die? What activities or skills do you want to learn or try out? What are the most important things you can ever do? What experiences do you want to have? Any countries, places or locations you want to visit?  Bucket List ideas I would like to do (taken from daringtolivefully.com): Learn a language, achieve your ideal weight, travel, visit the Grand Canyon, Stay at an ice hotel (at least see one), fly in a hot air balloon over the Loire Valley in France(vineyards, 800 castles and manors, 200 miles SW of Paris), Swim with Manatees, sea turtle or dolphins, do the scorpion yoga pose, hike the Appalachian trail, learn archery, play the harp, get something published, learn something new each day, have a romantic picnic, learn to meditate, ride a segway, have chocolate and cheese fondue, (the following are taken from bucketlistjourney.net) dog sled, just walked a suspension bridge, feed exotic animal (elephant, koala, bear, etc), ride a horse on a beach, sell a piece of my art, enter art in an exhibit, sell something from a blog, go to a drive-in movie, make a house of cards, make something with origami, learn to cook something new, host a cookie exchange, learn to really use chopsticks & make an asian dinner, be a tourist in my own town (see something new), learn to paddle board, rock climb, win something, ask my spouse 50 questions, Say thank you and hello in five different languages, learn to fence, Sleep in a treehouse, put a love padlock somewhere in Utah or NV(makelovelocks.com), see Walden Pond, see the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington, learn more about the amazing beach art of Andres Amador, visit Fiji, Stay in a grass hut, see the Eiffel Tower, attend the hot air balloon fest in Albuquerque NM, be flexible enough to do the splits, see the beautiful, white buildings of Greece, drive the coast in Italy, visit Tuscany, gondola in Venice…to be continued. That is all for now. I hope these ideas get you thinking of things you want to do.

Happy planning!! -H