Dear Henry, do you remember when we wrote out our bucket list and thought we had all the time in the world to fulfill those dreams? I mean, we were in our twenties, newly married and making big plans. That’s what you do in your youth. You dream big, live large and love hard. Everything felt possible back then. I remember those days like they were yesterday. That bucket was overflowing.
Dear Henry, wow, how fast and furious have the last two decades been? Growing our family, embarking on new careers, buying our first home, moving halfway around the world and back. We’ve struggled through much heartache and we’ve flourished and grown along with all the beautiful things our lives have been touched with. Time is ticking by and it seems like the hole in the bucket has a steady drip but, there are so many more we’ve yet to accomplish. Thankfully we are still so young and have time and bonus, we get to keep topping it up with new hopes and dreams.
Dear Henry, who would have thought we would be saying goodbye to our boy, heading off to college and living on his own and our girl, going to experience life with another family on another continent? We’ve had so many incredible years filled with their childhood adventures, the trials and tribulations of raising babies, toddlers, tweens and now… To say I will miss them as they head off into the world without us is the understatement of the century. I tend to exaggerate everything but somehow this is different. I feel like I have a hole in my heart and no words to express how much I miss them. Maybe they fell through that hole in the bucket?
Dear Henry, it’s been the proverbial roller coaster of a ride and here we are in our sixties living a wonderfully comfortable life. I was thinking of our bucket list. We have been so fortunate with how many of those items we’ve been able to achieve and how crazy is it that there’s still so many more we want to see come to fruition? It may seem a bit maudlin to say but we can’t forget we are of an age where we just don’t have the time to wait on them anymore. Some things have been on that list since you and I became you and I.
It makes sense that we haven’t been able to achieve all of them because you know, life happens and perhaps some of them were not very realistic. We all have dreams but often they really are pipe dreams. I mean, becoming PGA Pros at our age just won’t happen, nor will you being an Astronaut or me being a 5’ 8”, blonde haired, Barbie-esque Broadway phenom. Oh sure, they were previously possible, but I only made it to 5’6”, had auburn hair and didn’t quite reach statuesque proportions. I wasn’t even close to having broadway talent either so there’s that, and you can call it ageism but really it’s just good sense on their part, sixty six year old men don’t get selected for the NASA Space Program.
Oh well, it’s always fun to imagine what it would have been like. Of course, there are so many other things that we can still do but I feel we are on a time crunch now and need to do them sooner rather than later or they too will just fall through the hole.
Dear Henry, I’ve plugged the hole, with duct tape. That shit will hold forever, no doubt long after we are gone. I don’t think we have to stop adding to the list, however, in the interest of beating the clock I do think we need to make sure we are working on what’s already on it or they’ll just start spilling over the rim, which pretty much negates plugging the hole. Is there one that you would like to do next?
Dear Liza, good job on the DIY hole repair. I agree one hundred percent. Let me take a look at the list and we can decide together which one we will tick off next. While neither of us has any intention of kicking the bucket anytime soon, it’s best to be on the safe side. Besides, you know how much Pilot’s love check lists. Tomorrow is never promised, let’s decide today. Love you huge!
Love Kiki
Xo
“Do it now. Sometimes “later” becomes “never.” — Anonymous
THE HAYDEN FAMILY - MAUNA KEA OBSERVATORY - DECEMBER 2019
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Fantastic My Friend!! Such a relevant topic, especially around our place. We need to take a break from "adding" to the list, and spend more time "doing" from the list!!