Live like You Were Dying

My grandmother is 85, and when there is a funeral for people in her generation, there is sadness, of course, but there are also phrases like, "He's had a good run" or "he has lived a full life". However, now in my 40s, I have found myself at more and more farewells where that just isn't the case. A life that feels like it's been cut short is a terrible thing. It's the finality of it all. The regret and the missed opportunity.

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People talk about their bucket list, but we always seem to wait until we hear bad news or there is some kind of timeline. Often that is too late. By the time you get that kind of news, there are often physical or financial implications that stop you from doing what you hoped to do.

After going to five funerals in under a year that left me with those feelings and having two friends get life-limiting news, I felt this overwhelming urge to do something. So, I started a little project, the name of which I can't write in print. So, we'll refer to it here as the 'Stuff It List'.

I asked a group of friends what the one thing on their List was, and we are going to spend this year trying to make them all happen. Reading the comments, I was shocked how many things on my friends' Stuff It List items were things I had already been lucky enough to do.

I owe so much of the credit for that to my mother. She has always lived her life that way. She was only 27 when her father died at 54. When she was 39, her partner Robert was killed in a car accident. Both were life-changing events in our family. Even though the sorrow was palpable, she found a way through and was so determined that this would be the reason for

her and her child to live life to the fullest.

After the death of her partner, she taught herself how to sail a yacht single-handedly, and then travelled all over the world. She travelled to Tanzania and spent some time working with St Judes - a school started by an Australian woman to help local girls get an education. It is an opportunity for these girls that would otherwise be missed for many cultural and

financial reasons. For 20 years mum sponsored a girl to receive room, board, and school fees. Now she is an incredibly bright woman and has used that quality to move forward. Every girl deserves that opportunity.

One of my friends who has sadly had some bad news recently had an encounter with the meerkats on his Stuff It List. COVID sadly prevented him from being somewhere that we could make that happen. So when the opportunity presented itself at Hunter Valley Wildlife Park, we decided to grab it with both hands. I thought about all the times I have seen signs for those encounters and thought, I'll do it next time. Unfortunately, there won't be a next time for so many people. We were doing it now.

The Keeper who took us in was amazing and very informative and didn't blink an eye when I teared up and had a little moment. For some reason, having those beautiful little creatures crawling all over us and feeding out of our hands just made me feel safe and warm. COVID was at its height, and we were all scared. But inside those gates and at that moment, I felt like we were doing something important. Nature will always make you grounded.

There are many encounters available all year round at Hunter Valley Wildlife Park. Check out what is available by heading to www.huntervalleyzoo.com.au or maybe add it to your Stuff It List!