He put down the pencil.

He realized. In the ending of his list, he’d invited death. Within the two-fifths of the page after “35. See Samuel and Jackie at least once a week”, He had really put 36. Die. He crumpled up the bucket list and wondered why he’d even started the damn thing. He was still young. Well, he wasn’t old. But how many young people do you see with grandkids. He thought about them, Sweet Sammy, and Little Jackie. Uncrumpling the list, he looked at the things he’d put before them, before number 35.

16. Sky Dive
28. Visit Paris
3. Write a Memoir
33. Apologize to Rose
7. Live on the Beach
1. Win an Award
23. Feel Weightless
then looked at
36. Die, which he’d scribbled in at the bottom.

Noticing his mistake, he’d put less important items first, and what mattered last, he rewrote:

List of things to do before Sammy and Jackie Grow Up
1. See Samuel and Jackie at least once a week
2. Apologize to Rose
3. Maybe some other things, but in the end die proud of my decisions