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a man peeks over a mountain range at two tents around a fire.

Living for the Now, Hello Bucket List

As soon as my oncologist uttered these words, “I would say you have anywhere from two and a half years to three years to live” I started to live in the present, live for the now, and make a bucket list. I made a concentrated effort to spend much more time with my family and travel to many places we had always wanted to see but never had the opportunity.

Discovering my family lineage in Scotland

The first place on the bucket list was the Republic of Ireland. Our family DNA tests had shown what we had known for many decades, we were majority Irish/Scottish. Following much detailed genealogical research combined with DNA technology, we found that our family traced back to Scotland through Ireland. Our ancestors were part of many Highland and Border clans of Scotland.

We traced back to Clan MacKay and Castle Varrich near Tongue, Scotland. Because of the inter-marrying of the clans, we also trace back to the following clans: Sutherland, Stewart, Johnston, Bruce, Munro, Fergusons, Frashers, McKenzies and others.

The trip of a lifetime

Due to these very exciting discoveries, Scotland quickly became another item on the bucket list. Immediately, we began planning for a trek to Scotland and we wanted to include Northern Ireland as many of our ancestors passed through Ulster, Northern Ireland en route to the United States of America.

Once you receive that stage IV cancer diagnosis, all the things you wished for in the past become imperative. I felt like it is extremely important to have something exciting and deep in heart to look forward to. The minute I did not have anything planned, I began to become depressed. Even my dreams turned darker in nature.

Visiting my sister in Oregon

In between our international trips to our homeland, we also ticked off another item on the ‘ol bucket list, a trip to visit my sister in Salem, Oregon. The first trip out west was very hard on my body as I was in the middle of losing 41 pounds and I looked like a skeleton. Physically the trip was taxing and I struggled to enjoy Oregon.

Oregon was unspeakably beautiful and I loved all that was blessed to see, but my daily stamina was for not. I could not walk very far, nor could I stand the intense heat of the interior of Oregon or the coldness of the coast. The chemo was taking a heavy toll on my body.

Traveling the world with my loved ones

The next spring, we all took to the skies for our trip that would take in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, and France. A total of eight family members accompanied us on this quest. We visited castles, lochs, mountains, and islands during our trek. All the things I had always wanted to visit, but never, ever figured I would see in this lifetime.

Only a few weeks after returning from over the pond, we took another two week excursion to Oregon. This time I would check off more than one item on the bucket list. We traveled into Big Foot country. Mount St. Helen’s was on the list and we made that spectacular journey. Goodwill also made the list. Oregon has the most amazing Goodwills compared to our’s in West Virginia.

Live your life and take chances

In closing, I was able to give myself more hope to survive by simply living my life and taking a chance on visiting places of my dreams. Take the time to sit down and write yourself a bucket list. Nothing is too grand for the list, however, if you limit yourself it may not be a true bucket list.

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