Have you seen the movie The Bucket List starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Friedman? In it, they portray two terminally ill characters who seek to fulfill as many dreams as possible in the short time they have left.

Stemming from the term “to kick the bucket” (read: to pass away), the bucket list is a long list of things you wish to do before you die.

If you have had a near-death experience, or know someone who has, you will know how important that list truly is.

When we spend all our days at work and not with those we love, thinking they will be there later, we aren’t truly living our List. We need to make time to connect with those who are precious. As we are all born with a personal bank account of time, we know it gets refilled every day. The question is how often?

When my grandmother lay dying in a hospital bed in New Haven, I was tearing down the highway with my infant son in the back seat. I wanted to see her one last time. But I arrived twenty minutes too late. It was a very sad moment for me as I wanted to thank her for all that she had done for me in my life. Her impact is felt even to this day.

What my grandmother taught me was the infinite power of love. She lived her life by the bucket list system. She travelled alone to Europe in her earlier years, even when it wasn’t fashionable to travel without her husband. She embraced people with kindness and was known to drop a neighbor a $50 bill so he could take his wife to dinner.

I have a long list of items on my list. Many of them have been fulfilled (such as becoming a writer, acting on screen and interviewing people for a living). Some have not yet been reached (such as really learning French this time  ~thank you, Madame Allison, but your Southern accent butchers anything beautiful about the language!). To paraphrase the great American poet Robert Frost, I have a way to go before I sleep eternally. And that’s a good thing. That fills me with hope and commitment to take time to embrace new experiences, love my friends and family and to really live.

Savor your life, my dear friends. It is your gift to humanity.

So tell me, what’s on your bucket list?