11:51 a.m. - 2008-06-16
Our 'BUCKET LIST\"
Monday, June 16, 2008
We rented THE BUCKET LIST and watched it over the weekend. It was a good movie. I enjoyed both the actors very much and their friendship seemed real. I spied one little blooper in the movie but it didn't spoil the story.*
I bet Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman even like each other in real life. It was good to see the twinkle in their eyes as they said their lines. Of course, the message was to make a list of things you want to do
before you "kick the bucket".
Naturally, the movie started a conversation between RH (retire husband) and myself. What would we put on our list of things to do before we leave this earth? We both thought about it quite a bit and came up with the same conclusions.
First, of all, if we were still in our early years; our lists would have been quite long. Based on what our goals were then, we have accomplished many of those wishes and dreams. We got married, we had a child. We both had fulfilling jobs that we really liked. It took a few tries to find the job that meant the most to both of us. We both worked hard and made our way towards the road to job satisfaction. We probably made a few mistakes along the way but it never hurt us badly or caused us any undue problems. We simple picked ourselves up and started over again. We moved several times during our marriage. We even moved to Florida for about 3 months before we decided being back in our hometown was the best place for us to be...at least at the time. We each had long years in our careers. We have a comfortable home that we both enjoy.
Our son is grown and married now too. We didn't have grandbabies but we were lucky enough to get two teenage granddaughters along with our son's marriage to a wonderful woman. We love our DIL as much as if we had picked her out for our son. We feel in our hearts that their marriage is stable. We also believe that they are good friends as well as being married to each other.
So what would we put on our Bucket List? Well, we talked about that. We really don't have any dreams that we haven't fulfilled. We don't care about jewelry and designer clothes. We don't care about fancy restaurants or wine. We don't need fancy cars or European vacations. Sure, I would love to see the wonders of the world but I don't think I really want to travel to see them...if you know what I mean.
If I learned to become a gourmet cook; it would be wasted time and money because my husband doesn't care about that type of food. I don't really want to bake bread from scratch or make donuts or fancy cakes. I would just eat more of that type of food.
I don't really want to learn to quilt, knit or crochet. I don't have the patience to sit and my fingers cramp up because I can't relax enough. I don't care to paint or become a craft person. I did ceramics years ago and I enjoyed it. I made things for family members and they were appreciated. But, I don't want all that "stuff" around any more. I am tired of clutter and actually would prefer to get rid of much of what I have displayed all over the house.
We don't want to rehab a home and "flip it". It sounds like a lot of work for a small possibility of making a profit. We have talked about moving, downsizing, getting a smaller home or even considering a condo or an apartment. But for now, we like our current home...it's paid for. It's comfortable and has what we want. There may come a time in the next few years when we will decide it is time to move on, but for now...it's just fine. Maintaining our home and yard gives RH things to do and a sense of accomplishment when he completes a task he has set for himself.
At this time of our lives, we want to relax and enjoy our freedom. That was the final decision we made after talking about the Bucket List. We don't have a list. We don't need a list. We don't want a list!
We just want to take each day as it comes. We want to continue to enjoy our home. We want the freedom to take off for a few days when the whim moves us. We want to enjoy each other's company and talk as long as we want to....whether it is for a few minutes or for hours. We want to sit on our front porch and watch the breezes blow, want the flowers grow and watch the world go by. We want to watch our favorite TV programs and talk about them. We want to share news from the paper or television or magazines. We want to discuss family members and wonder about their decisions. We want to be available to help our friends and family when they need us. We want to go to a restaurant and have a steak dinner. We want to eat junk food from time to time. We want to stop for ice cream when the spirit moves us. We want to take a ride in the country and just look at all the green.... We want to go to a casino and put our money into slot machines and watch it disappear. We want to visit old friends and catch up on what has happened in their lives. We want to see relatives and give them an especially loving hug that lasts for days... We want to reminisce about the early days of our marriage when we didn't have much but all we needed was each other. We want to talk about our mistakes and our accomplishments and our pride in each other's choices. We want to look at old picture albums and marvel at how young we were and how far we have come together. We want to think about old friends and family who have passed and remember the special times we shared together. We want to make arrangements to see other family members and friends again....very soon...so we can make more memories. We want to look forward to every day.
We want to just......BE....
Enjoy your day..... *Oh yes, the blooper was that during the storyline, one of the characters got mad and tore up the "bucket list". But near the end of the story, another character had the list again and was marking off some of the items on the list.
