A bucket list may seem cliché to you, but when I was diagnosed with Stage IV Breast Cancer in January of 2013, I was told I had 18-24 months to live. I was only 28 with three small children. There were and are still so many things I wanted to accomplish with my children, husband and family. All I ever wanted to do was be a mom. I had already gave birth to and buried a child, along with hopes and dreams for her, and then miscarried my second child- I never thought I would ever be a mother. I fought hard to be a mom and endured not only loss, but also a hard birth and NICU stay with the twins. Followed by an emergent birth that ended my child bearing days and also numerous medical issues with my son. When I finally had it all, death came breathing down my neck and my very existence was threatened. My kids were still babies when I was diagnosed, so I compiled a list of not only things I did as a child that I wanted to do with my children, but things I wished of doing, and experiences I had hoped to see achieved. The list morphed into a list of dreams. And my mommy bucket list grows the longer I am alive- I am able to have new dreams that I thought I would never see. Dreams that make me happy. Happy to be a daughter, sister, friends, wife and mother. And right now, being happy is pretty awesome.
Buy the kids a swing set
Take kids to Circus
Go to a Christian Concert
Teach kids to fly a kite
Meet Bubba from 100.7
Take kids to the Carnegie Science Center
Take kids to the Aviary
Take kids to the movies
Take kids to the Drive In
Have a backyard camp night in a tent
Take kids to see Seseame Street live
Take kids on the Gateway Clipper
Take kids to see Disney On Ice
Teach kids to read
Take kids to all Disney parks
Get kids a Bulldog
Take the kids on a Ducky Tour of the Three Rivers
See a Broadway Musical in NYC
Take kids to a musical
Meet NKOTB (fan girl status=creepy)
Take kids to ride a horse
Take the whole family to Salem in October
Visit Boston & catch a Red Sox Game
Watch kids take piano lessons
Buy kids a piano
Have Lemonade Stands with the kids
Teach kids to ride a bike with no training wheels
Have a Halloween Costume Party
Be an actor in a super cool Haunted House
Take kids to indoor swim park
Go to the Georgia Aquarium
Teach kids to swim under water
Go on a family Cruise
Take the whole family to see a real Indian Powwow
Take kids camping across the country
Go to Australia
Meet/See Jimmy Fallon
Catch a Justin Timberlake Concert
Be in the audience of a live recorded TV Show
Buy our dream home
Watch the sun rise with my husband
Visit NYC and Ground Zero
Visit the Statue of Liberty
Take the kids to a New York Fire Station
Meet a New York Police Officer . . . in New York
Meet the Impractical Jokers
Take the kids to Niagara Falls
Take kids to Sea World
Take the whole family to Washington, DC
Take the kids to every Smithsonian Museum in DC
See a dolphin in its natural habitat
Family vacation in Clearwater, FL
Take kids to see Winter the dolphin
Swim with a dolphin
Take the kids to Brentwood’s 4th of July Parade
Take the kids to the Grand Canyon
Take kids to a Pirate’s baseball game
Buy a boat or camper
Renew vows in Hawaii
Take Mom to Ireland
Take Mom and Dad to see a Steeler game
Take the kids crabbin’
See the kids get an “A” on a paper/report card
Take kids skiing
Take the kids snow tubing
See them accept Christ in their lives
Watch kids be baptized (2 out of 3!)
Watch kids play sports
Watch kids perform in a play, band or chorus (2 out of 3!)
Help kids through their first heartbreak
Take the girls for a spa day
Watch kids go to prom
Watch kids graduate (pre-school works for now!)
Send kids off to college
Watch kids get married
Watch kids have babies
Write a book
Go to Universal Studios
Help the kids with a report
Watch the kids complete a service project
Meet Lysa TerKeurst
Buy a pig
Complete my first house project
Have a girls weekend with my sisters/besties
Watch my godson and nephews go to Kindergarten
Take the kids to play laser tag
Have my son take me on a date
Help teach my niece and nephew to drive
Have birthday party sleepover for the kids
Watch my nieces and nephews graduate (2 down!)
Watch the girls play on a high school sport team
Watch the kids go to a school dance
Get a service dog to help me
Retire to a beach house
Open a small business near the beach
Visit the Redwood National Park (Avenue of the Giants)
Go canoeing or kayaking on the river with the kids
Make the world laugh and smile
Live to see cancer cured
To see my list in action, follow me on Instagram or Tik Tok @mrskatecrawford
“I will not die an unlived life
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.”
-Dawna Markova
Kate Crawford 