Life is precious. We are here for a blip in time—a tiny, insignificant moment in the grand scheme of things—and that moment can be cut short without warning.
You get one life in this body. One chance to experience this particular version of yourself, in this particular reality, with these particular people. So why the hell would you deny yourself the things you truly want?
This list started on April 25, 2025. That date matters to me. It was my father’s 65th birthday. Two weeks later, he died unexpectedly.
I don’t believe you have to lose someone to understand that life is temporary. But being diagnosed with Von Hippel Lindau and losing my dad in the same year made the temporary nature of it impossible to ignore. It changed the way I look at time, at someday, at all the things we tell ourselves we’ll do eventually.
Eventually, when the kids are older. Eventually, when I have more money. Eventually, when work isn’t so demanding. Someday, when life settles down. Someday, we will go on the trip. Someday, I’ll start that book.
But what if eventually doesn’t come? So, this isn’t a bucket list. It’s my Life List.
A collection of experiences, adventures, ridiculous ideas, deeply meaningful moments, places I want to see, things I want to learn, ways I want to challenge myself, and memories I want to make while I’m here.
Some of these things are enormous. Some are completely impractical. Some will require money, planning, courage, or a healthy disregard for common sense.
Some will happen alone. Some with my children. Some with my sisters. Some with friends. And, undoubtedly, some with the Musician.
The list is intentionally unfinished. Things will be added. Things will be crossed off. Some dreams will change. Some will become irrelevant. Some will turn into something I never could have imagined when I wrote them down.
And that’s the point.
I’m not waiting for the perfect life to start living it. I’m going. I’m saying yes more often. I’m taking the risks. I’m following my curiosity. I’m collecting stories. And I’m documenting the hell out of it so when it’s my time, I can take a deep breath and trust that death is just the next adventure.
I’ll keep a journal along the way and document these experiences here—very much like my Rom Com Summer. So come along for the journey, stay for the plot twists.
As my oldest would proclaim- “Adventure awaits!”
The Chaos of Healing 