The Bucket List – brought to popular attention by the 2007 Jack Nicholson movie of the same name – is a lovely idea. A checklist which neatly contains all the to-dos that will make your life complete, so that when the time comes to ‘kick the bucket’, you won’t look back with regret.
Go bungee jumping? Check.
Climb Mount Everest? Check.
Run a marathon? Check.
In case you were wondering, I’m checking these off an internet list of most popular bucket list items. I kid you not, there are websites- and now even expos- devoted to getting ideas for your bucket list; you know, because who else but a pool of anonymous strangers could know what experiences are meaningful to you? And obviously these activities mean so much to you, that they plumb slipped your mind.
In this latest ICPCN Blog post Melanie Rolfe writes about the things that are really important to have on a bucket list when a family is coping with a child with a life limiting illness. She also describes how to use the analogy to introduce a conversation around meaningful life experiences that the patient, their parents, their siblings, and extended family would love to be able to share, and that would give the family comfort knowing their loved one had the chance to experience.
Melanie describes herself as a mother, a wife, a dreamer, a dancer, and a doer has worked in the not-for-profit sector for the best part of a decade, supporting children, adolescents, and families who are living with a serious illness, life-limiting condition, or the loss of their loved one.
Her experience is in psychosocial care and her passion is for empowering every member of the family to live the fullest life possible. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a graduate certificate in adolescent health and welfare specialising in oncology, and is currently studying her Masters in applied positive psychology. She advocates for families as their own experts, and hopes to be the vessel to share the wisdom of the families she has worked with.
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