Dateline Dayton — Do you have a Bucket List?
Got any idea how long the good Lord will allow you to work on your list? Even if a doctor has told you that you only have a certain amount of time to live, he could be wrong. Your doctor could err on either side. Normally, we hope it’s longer.
Last Sunday I was watching “Undercover Boss.” One worker said her dad wanted to see the Grand Canyon but didn’t have a chance before he died. What struck me is that I, too, want to see the Grand Canyon. For various reasons, it has been shelved the past couple years.
Now our trip is planned for 2012. Do I know that we will be able to make it then, either? Of course not. Only one person has that knowledge. He is not providing me any information. I can only hope both Pauline and I will be in a position, healthwise and financially, to make the trip we are planning with my sister and brother-in-law.
Permit Me to Explain
Why, at this time of the year, do I allude to the subject of death and suffering when we are supposed to be festive, with peace on earth, goodwill to men? Last Saturday, we lost one of our classmates from the class of 1959 at Piqua Catholic High, Judy. What makes this situation so sad is that her husband, David, just died Nov. 15. She only learned of her terminal cancer a week and half prior to his death.
Ill for a number years, David was forced to retire early from a prizewinning photography career. His death was not a surprise. As Judy told me at his visitation, “He’s at peace.”
Yesterday was a month to the day of David’s death when I attended a funeral Mass for Judy.
Here is someone who devoted many years attending to her husband, and now the Lord has called her. Possibly David was lonely, and God wanted her to be with him. We never know the time or the place when we will receive our call.
If you have items in your bucket, get started on them today. If you haven’t even got the bucket , start one. Life here is far too short to procrastinate.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
