Dear Suletta

I am aware that you have a bucket list of things you still want to see and do in your lifetime, and I thought it is a very good time to remind you about these, as you are getting older by the minute, the second, of each hour, each day, each week, month and year!!

You have achieved much in the last two and a half years, stuff that many people dream of – you have settled down in a marriage that is seemingly made in heaven, with a man that surely has invisible angel wings and halo! And you have, after many years of wondering whether it actually is a fallacy, discovered that love truly exist, and once found, can represent that clay pot you’ve so often visualized, pure – with no cracks, holding the golden elixir of pure, unadulterated love, bliss, happiness of being with THE ONE!! And although I agree that this in itself is the one ultimate bucket list wish you had (I know, I know – not all the time, as I know all too well that you sometimes thought you can fly solo very successfully), there are practical goals that you must revisit – life could be short, or it could be extremely long and some deposits in the memory bank can only come to good use one day should this be the case for you.

So, my dear, darling Suletta, remember your wishes before this life love came along, and strive to now still see and experience these, though you need to alter the picture in your head to encompass the love of your life too. Can you imagine the pure joy of doing all these dreamy things with him? Dancing together in this circle of life and love whilst extracting the joy from each of the bucket list wishes?

So, here my love, is a reminder:

1. Go and trek up to Machu Picchu, but only once you’ve had that knee replacement done.
2. Go wander around in Russia – go photograph the gold on the buildings in St Petersburg, and covet the fact that your love has this same desire to visit Russia too! Perhaps you both hail from there in yonder years??
3. Take him to Mauritius, or Seychelles, or Maldives, and go bathe in the warm water whilst the sun caresses your bodies – older, wiser, more crinkly and saggy bits, but with souls that hold the care-free frolicking of long-forgotten youths, and lips that are still eager to taste the salty water and each other.
4. Go to Paris, and this time try to get to the highest level of the Eifel Tower, cause now you don’t have an excuse – your stronger half is there to support your shaking legs and to guide your eyes to the vista of the city, without looking down and wanting to give in to the pull of acrophobia!
5. Go tour Namibia – allow him to show you where he fought in the unspeakable war when he was a man-child, and had no say about the injustice of a life put on hold for some sad ideas! Go sand boarding at Swakopmund, and allow him to be the tour-guide for the rest of that stark, beautiful country.
6. Take him to Victoria Falls – let him hear the Thunder that Roars and experience the closeness of our Lord in every drop of water falling on him in the rain forest.
7. Go back to Kenya, and the Masaai Mara, so you both can imagine you are Adam and Even again in the original Garden of Eden.
8. Go ride Indian Elephants – you’ve done the African ones, so go seek out the lush forests of India, and peel your eyes for the elusive tiger, and marvel at the colors and scents of India and its wonderful people.
9. Go swim with dolphins in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean in the north of Natal. Pick up the colorful starfish and marvel at their God-made detail, before lowering them in the waters again. BUT, remember, the sea urchins sting!!
10. Go sit on Table Mountain, again and again and again and just look…

I hope I’ve jolted the desire to tick these off again – one by one, Suletta. May God grant you a long and healthy life, in order to do these things, but remember, start with the ones that are less strenuous, as your body, unlike your soul, may not last as long as you would wish for.

In the mean time, remember to love, laugh and appreciate what is placed on your path, and start by smelling the flowers – not just the West Coast abundance in spring, but every small one you see popping up among the rocks of life,  and beware the thorns in that path you walk!

Look after yourself.

Your conscience.