2025. The year I finished up cancer treatments (hopefully) for good. The year my dad had a stroke. The year my Aunt Gale died. The year my friend Des died. The year I bought my first new (not used, not traded with Dad to finish out his payments on the newer model in the family – actually new with 0 miles on the odometer when I took it for a test drive) car.
The year I turned 50.
The year I celebrated turning 50 with an excessive list of resolutions to accomplish 50 things in several categories:
- 50 home-cooked meals
- 50 books bought from indie bookshops
- 50 small financial goals set and met
- 50 thousand words written (not counting blogs or any writing I did for my day job – hey, perhaps I should have counted blogs and UNT trainings/memos/manuals!)
- 50 bucket list items to cross off by the time I’m 60
I enjoyed working toward everything on this list, but I think my favorite part was creating the bucket list. It ranges from small errands like “renew my passport” to big-deal rites of passage like “retire from UNT.” It contains goals about my career, music, writing, finances, and health. It reveals things I want to change about my home and so many things I want to learn. It includes a surprising amount of travel. I had no idea I wanted to go so many places, but looking at the list, I can’t think of anything I’d want to remove. Although admittedly, unless I win the lottery or become otherwise inexplicably wealthy, I probably won’t be able to take all the bigger trips in just 10 years’ time. I guess that leaves me something to look forward to in my 60s!
You’ll see some of these things when I post my 2026 resolutions in a couple of days. As with a couple of the other goals, I ended up with way more than 50 things for the next decade’s to-do list, and I’m hoping to knock out a lot of the small things next year so I can start taking steps to make the longer-term goals happen. At any rate, it gives me a solid picture of how much life I still have to look forward to.
I’m excited to get started!
M. Suzanne Terry 
I’m so happy for you, my friend! Obviously this year had ups and downs (to oversimplify!), but your outlook as the year draws to a close is a delight to see. I love that you listed out so many new things, too! As I turned 50 this year as well, I’ve started revisiting a few things myself, though nothing like what you’ve described. Eager to read more as you publish further news. 🙂