Dare to go braless
7. Make Buddy Fitch pay
8. Be the hottest girl at Oasis
9. Get on TV
10. Ride in a helicopter
11. Pitch an idea at work
12. Try boogie boarding
13. Eat ice cream in public
14. Go on a blind date
15. Take Mom and Grandma to see Wayne Newton
16. Get a massage
17. Throw away my bathroom scale
18. Watch a sunrise
19. Show my brother how grateful I am for him
20. Make a big donation to charity
“Skydiving is at the top of my list,” Susan said, taking a bite of her ice-cream cone.
“You have a list?”
“Not anything written. But sure, there are things I want to do before I die.”
“Well, I for one can’t imagine anything worse than skydiving-hurtling through the air, no control over how fast you’re falling or where you might land. Why people find that fun is beyond me.”
We sat at an outdoor cafe; taking a break from work, slurping on double-scoop ice-cream cones. The offices of Los Angeles Rideshare-where Susan is client services director and supervises a staff of twenty and I work as a writer and am more, say, in the worker bee category-are located in one of the older downtown business districts. Ornate buildings line the narrow streets, making it seem unusually old for Los Angeles. On this particular afternoon, with the sun blazing warm on our shoulders, we watched pouring rain across the street where a Visa commercial was being filmed. Huge machines sprayed water on faux New York taxis. Tourists stood at the periphery in tank tops and shorts, holding pens and paper for autographs in case that guy grinning at the camera was a real celebrity.
As much as I was riding high from the success of kissing the busboy, I knew there was much more to do.
The list sat on the table between us so Susan could help me establish the rules-the dos and don’ts, as it were, for completing it. For example, we decided that I didn’t have to do the tasks in order. Also, I had to obey, as Susan put it, ‘the spirit of the law’ -a result of my saying that to do #8, Be the hottest girl at Oasis, I could merely walk into the bar and set myself on fire.
“So what’s your plan to get this done on time?” Susan asked as she used a napkin to dab at ice cream that had spilled onto her blouse. She looked amazing as always, wearing a simple silk pantsuit, no makeup except for red lipstick, and her black hair knotted into an effortless updo. It was the sort of look that made me regard my flowered skirt and blouse from the Everything $15 Store a little less charitably than I had when the cashier had been ringing it up.
“My plan?” My brow furrowed. “I figured I’d wing it.”
“I don’t know, June. Some of these seem time-consuming. Like this one: Change someone’s life. That’s hardly the sort of thing you can handle on your lunch break.”
“Oh, don’t worry-I did that already. In fact, do you have a pen? I’ll cross it off.” I sounded so gloomy that Susan looked at me perplexed until I elaborated. “Marissa was alive. Now she’s dead. That’s quite a change, don’t you think?”
“Ugh. How long do you intend to beat yourself up over this?”
“Until this list is done, that’s how long.”
“All the more reason to take it seriously.”
“I sure hope I finish.”
I didn’t need to say anything more than that. Susan and I have been best friends since we met as students at UC Santa Barbara-she’s been around long enough to know that it won’t be easy for me. She’s seen it all. The vacations I planned but never got around to booking. The half-completed master’s degree in marketing I thought would jump-start my career. For that matter, the poncho I recently tried to crochet that took so long, ponchos went back out of style.
“You know that anything I can do to help I will.”
“Thanks.” I glanced at my watch. “I’d better get back to the office. Lizbeth’s having one of her famous late afternoon meetings to make sure none of us tries to sneak out
7. Make Buddy Fitch pay
8. Be the hottest girl at Oasis
9. Get on TV
10. Ride in a helicopter
11. Pitch an idea at work
12. Try boogie boarding
13. Eat ice cream in public
14. Go on a blind date
15. Take Mom and Grandma to see Wayne Newton
16. Get a massage
17. Throw away my bathroom scale
18. Watch a sunrise
19. Show my brother how grateful I am for him
20. Make a big donation to charity
“Skydiving is at the top of my list,” Susan said, taking a bite of her ice-cream cone.
“You have a list?”
“Not anything written. But sure, there are things I want to do before I die.”
“Well, I for one can’t imagine anything worse than skydiving-hurtling through the air, no control over how fast you’re falling or where you might land. Why people find that fun is beyond me.”
We sat at an outdoor cafe; taking a break from work, slurping on double-scoop ice-cream cones. The offices of Los Angeles Rideshare-where Susan is client services director and supervises a staff of twenty and I work as a writer and am more, say, in the worker bee category-are located in one of the older downtown business districts. Ornate buildings line the narrow streets, making it seem unusually old for Los Angeles. On this particular afternoon, with the sun blazing warm on our shoulders, we watched pouring rain across the street where a Visa commercial was being filmed. Huge machines sprayed water on faux New York taxis. Tourists stood at the periphery in tank tops and shorts, holding pens and paper for autographs in case that guy grinning at the camera was a real celebrity.
As much as I was riding high from the success of kissing the busboy, I knew there was much more to do.
The list sat on the table between us so Susan could help me establish the rules-the dos and don’ts, as it were, for completing it. For example, we decided that I didn’t have to do the tasks in order. Also, I had to obey, as Susan put it, ‘the spirit of the law’ -a result of my saying that to do #8, Be the hottest girl at Oasis, I could merely walk into the bar and set myself on fire.
“So what’s your plan to get this done on time?” Susan asked as she used a napkin to dab at ice cream that had spilled onto her blouse. She looked amazing as always, wearing a simple silk pantsuit, no makeup except for red lipstick, and her black hair knotted into an effortless updo. It was the sort of look that made me regard my flowered skirt and blouse from the Everything $15 Store a little less charitably than I had when the cashier had been ringing it up.
“My plan?” My brow furrowed. “I figured I’d wing it.”
“I don’t know, June. Some of these seem time-consuming. Like this one: Change someone’s life. That’s hardly the sort of thing you can handle on your lunch break.”
“Oh, don’t worry-I did that already. In fact, do you have a pen? I’ll cross it off.” I sounded so gloomy that Susan looked at me perplexed until I elaborated. “Marissa was alive. Now she’s dead. That’s quite a change, don’t you think?”
“Ugh. How long do you intend to beat yourself up over this?”
“Until this list is done, that’s how long.”
“All the more reason to take it seriously.”
“I sure hope I finish.”
I didn’t need to say anything more than that. Susan and I have been best friends since we met as students at UC Santa Barbara-she’s been around long enough to know that it won’t be easy for me. She’s seen it all. The vacations I planned but never got around to booking. The half-completed master’s degree in marketing I thought would jump-start my career. For that matter, the poncho I recently tried to crochet that took so long, ponchos went back out of style.
“You know that anything I can do to help I will.”
“Thanks.” I glanced at my watch. “I’d better get back to the office. Lizbeth’s having one of her famous late afternoon meetings to make sure none of us tries to sneak out
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