Final curtain call-to-action: My personal bucket list

A sad day in the Wastehold: Mr. Waste and I lost a dear friend to cancer. Most people have a long and extended battle with the disease – not our friend Dave Misner. He went to the doctor for a possible ulcer, and 91 days later, died from pancreatic cancer. That’s crazy sudden.

That got me thinking about what I would do if death was standing there at my door, waiting to reap me off my feet. I would book a vacation to a far, exotic land and have one last adventure before taking the big dirt nap. I would squeeze in as many items on my bucket list as I could.

The problem is my bucket list is getting pretty short. It’s not that I am growing old. It’s that I’ve done a pretty darn good job of making my dreams a reality.

Here’s a list of items I’ve checked off:

• Skydiving (a first date with ex-Mr. Waste).

• Scuba diving with sharks in Fiji (followed by warm chocolate chip cookies on the ship’s deck).

• Riding an elephant, (thank you, Barnum & Bailey’s Florida winter headquarters).

• Riding a scooter all the way to Yellowstone and through a herd of bison, (thank you SQREAM Scooter Club).

• Beekeeping – (The honey still flows from my hives in Gaypleton).

• Competing in the Bourbon Street Awards in New Orleans on Fat Tuesday, (and winning Best Overall Costume).

• Traveling to Africa and Australia (lions and tigers and koalas, oh my)!

• Going to Burning Man in Nevada (and meeting people more creative than me).

And then there are things I ended up doing that were not on my list but should have been.

• Standing before Michelangelo’s “David” (and having my breath taken away).

• Meeting and marrying Mr. Waste (best wedding reception ever).

• Competing in rodeo and owning a horse. (Thank you, Craig Laurita and CGRA).

• Seeing the Eiffel Tower at night (tres bon).

• Petting a Komodo dragon. (Thank
you, behind-the-scenes-tour of the Denver Zoo).

• Stilt walking in the Sweet Potato Queens Parade in Jackson, Miss. (Thank you, Jill Connor Browne).

• Having lunch on the hillside of a live active volcano (oh, those crazy Costa Ricans).

• Being the first drag queen to appear in Forbes magazine (What were they thinking?)

• Swimming with dolphins (Nothing’s illegal in Mexico).

That probably is plenty for one lifetime. What could possibly be left on my list?

• Scootering from Rome to see the excavated city of Pompeii (and eating gelato along the way).

• Visiting Asia, South America and Antarctica (pandas and alpacas and penguins, oh my)!

• Scootering the east coast of Australia (Kangaroo road kill, anyone?).

• Owning a motorcycle (Once our wills are done with me leaving everything to Mr. Waste).

What crazy things are on your bucket list? Send me an email and share.

Our friend Dave was only 48 when he passed away. His laughter and love made quite a difference in the short time he shared our planet. Hundreds showed up at his celebration of life at the Denver Botanical Gardens, including Gov. John Hickenlooper and Mayor Michael Hancock. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennett, along with Rep. Diana DeGette, were also there to share the memories of Dave.

You might have been touched by Dave and never knew it. He was a “meter maid,” or as the City of Denver would say, “a right of way enforcer.” He handed out tickets all over town. Sometimes when he saw a friend’s car, he would put a yellow envelope on it with a note inside that said “Gotcha!” Dave had a sense of humor, and it got passed along to his daughter, who at the service, delivered the best line: “My dad always called me a princess. But not many daughters can say ‘My dad was a bigger princess than me.’”