CROSSING ONE OFF THE LIST

While on the way back from Israel this spring, I watched movies. Flying on a big jumbo jet, in business class gives you that opportunity. And besides sleep and reading, it is about the best option to past the time on a 14 hour trip.

So, one of the movies I watched was" The Bucket List". The movie, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman is about two men who are brought together by the dark diagnosis of cancer. They have lived vastly different lives, but find themselves together rounding the corner toward a finish line that we all must cross some day.

The premise builds around the idea of a list... a list of activities and things that one would want to do before their time ends here on earth.

I suppose that most of us do not bother to think about this alot, until we are given the bad news. ( don't worry, no bad news here for me.) But in our minds, all of us have a list of things that we would like to do before we die. Some are relationship driven... a person we want to see, a relationship we want to repair, or someone that we want to thank, forgive, or just see and recall old times. Some are activity driven... a place we want to go to, a challenge we want to attempt to rise up to, or an event that we want to attend.

I don't have a specific list on paper, or in a computer somewhere. But in my mind, I have some relationship things I want to experience, if God allows. There are some places I want to go and see, again if God allows.

And there are some events. This weekend , one of those things on the list , was crossed off. I am a big Eagles fan. I love their music, harmonies, and creativity. These guys are old... older than me by a long shot. Glen Fry, Joe Walsh and Don Henley have been around forever, both as part of the Eagles, and on their own. Thier work with guitars of all kinds is really something to behold.

The Eagles came to Tulsa to open the new BOK Arena. Tickets were very pricey, and the concert was sold out in a matter of minutes on the internet. So there was no real way that Pam and I could attend. I came to grips with that pretty early, and just thought, "Well I have them on my Iphone, and that is pretty cool."

A friend had tickets and could not use them. So, he gave them to us. All I can say is "WOW." What a concert. It was everything I had hoped for. It was fun, a great crowd of 14,000, new arena, fantastic music for the 70's, 80's, 90's, and whatever you call the present decade. It is not often that an event meets or even supersedes your expectations. This one did!

One of the great things about it is that the concert was 3 1/2 hours long, with about a 20 minute break. These guys, who said, "Welcome to the Eagles Assisted Living Tour," played their hearts out. I knew that late would not be good for me , so we left after 2 1/2 hours... It was incredible.

It was one of those fun things that you want to do, but don't figure you will ever get to do. Thanks to a generous friend, at least one of those things is crossed off the list.

There will be more... but I can't imagine many other things being that fun. Going to Fenway Park was close...but this was better.

All this has me thinking more about my list...both in the arena of relationships and events... Maybe that is one of the good things about turning 50. The kids are gone now, and you can spend some time thinking about that kind of stuff...and maybe even plan to accomplish some of it.

But honestly, one of the best things about the whole deal with the Eagles was that it was a surprise. That made it even more special. THANKS!