#bucketlistsoftheworld

[becausewolo-blog]

Melanie Day’s Bucket List

Greetings, Wolo World, welcome to a very powerful edition of #BucketListsOfTheWorld. This week, we are excited to introduce you to an incredible woman named Melanie Day. She comes to us via her friend, Kathryn Turner, a college friend of Wolo co-founder Ray Collins. If you’d like to learn more about her message, follow Melanie on Instagram or check out her website, Five Years to Live.

Who are you, and what do you do?

I am a wife, a mother of 3, a former college athlete, and a terminal cancer patient. My husband and I recently moved to Utah to seek better health care. Our children are 6, 4, and 3. I played basketball competitively growing up in Southern California and had a successful college career at UCLA and BYU. I was diagnosed with breast cancer 4 years ago while I was pregnant with my 3rd child. I had chemo, radiation, surgeries, AND miraculously, a healthy baby boy! Eventually, I was declared cancer-free, but the cancer metastasized to my bones in 2015. I was then given five years to live. This prognosis has changed how I live my life. I decided to stop wasting time on things that don’t matter. I want to live life to the fullest and no longer delay my dreams. The things I’ve always said I’d do someday have become an urgent priority. Because I don’t know how many more somedays I’ll have. That is what I want to share with others: to live like you, too, have five years to live. To focus on what really matters. To take that dream vacation. To start that business. To tell that person how you REALLY feel. Because we don’t know when we will be taken from this life. Every day is a bonus day. So start checking off your bucket list!

What are three experiences currently on your bucket list?

(1) Girls trip to NYC and also Maine to see the Fall leaves. I've always wanted to spend a few days in New York with my best friends, going to shows and getting the good eats. Also, I've heard that seeing the fall leaves in Maine is a must.

(2) Go to Africa. It's been a place I've dreamed about going since I was a little girl. My mom spent a lot of time in Africa for work when I was younger so it's always been a fascinating place to me.

(3) Float down the Provo river. I realize that's not super exciting, but I spent a few years in Provo for college and I've always wanted to do it and never have. I live in Utah now so I'm hoping to cross this off this summer!

What are three awesome things you’ve recently checked off your bucket list?

(1) I was flash mobbed. My cousin and her coworkers surprised me while I was hanging out at a family fun center one day. They announced my name over the loudspeaker and had me come to the middle of the skating rink where they danced their choreographed routine for me. It was slightly awkward because I didn't know anyone besides my cousin performing, but it was so thoughtful that my cousin would organize it for me. Her company, Clearlink, filmed it and interviewed me after for their Out of the Blue program. I wanted to get flash mobbed because I've loved watching the youtube videos of people coming together to do this at malls or subways. It just seems so cool to me. So I guess I just want people to entertain me. For free. And I love the element of surprise.

(2) I attended the UNC at Duke basketball game in February. It was honestly the number one thing on my bucket list, but I never thought I'd actually get to go. The coaches at BYU heard of this being on my bucket list, so they decided to try to make it happen. Unbeknownst to me, they sent a letter to Coach K at Duke about my wishes and to everyone's surprise, he responded! The BYU coaches surprised me with the news in the locker room after one of their games. They also contributed money to us to fly my husband and I out to North Carolina, as well as money for a hotel and rental car. My week in North Carolina was like a basketball fantasy. I attended practice at both Duke and North Carolina. I met both Coach K and Roy Williams, as well as their staffs. I was able to enter the arena hours before the game started to watch the Cameron Crazies enter the building (which honestly was so fascinating and a highlight for me). I was given the best seats at the game, right next to Coach K's grandson. I even got a fist bump from Coach K right before tip-off! The game did not disappoint. And the atmosphere did not either. It was all and even way more than I had dreamed of. During the week that I was there, I was interviewed almost every day by a different news station. It was a bit of a news circus, but I was happy to share my story, what I've learned from cancer, and how BYU, Duke, and UNC were so kind to me. I met so many great people. One of them being former Tarheel and NBA great, Eric Montross, who actually invited me back for the rematch of the two teams in Chapel Hill. So not only did I go to my dream game once, but I flew back a month later for the rematch!

(3) I danced to Busta Rhymes, "Do the Bus a Bus," with my former UCLA teammates. After our NCAA tournament wins, this is what we did to celebrate in the locker room. Winning in the NCAA tournament is a feeling different than any in the world. If I could re-create that feeling on the daily, I wouldn’t have a bad day. And honestly that is my favorite song to dance to (the clean version, of course). I organized an event last November called the Bucket List Benefit Concert to raise money for our family to cross off bucket list items (in lieu of a gofundme type fundraiser to cover medical expenses). A couple of my UCLA teammates came and we danced to this song together once again.

What is one place everyone must have on their bucket list? Why?

A Lantern Festival. I attended the RISE Festival in Las Vegas a couple years ago, and it was so much more magical than I ever imagined. Watching 10,000 lanterns release into the sky at the same time was one of the most unbelievable things I've ever seen. The desert sky went from pitch black to glowing in seconds and I was totally overcome with emotion. (I actually couldn't stop bawling.) I think everyone should experience this magic. In fact, I'm taking my husband and kids to a lantern festival in Utah next week!

What experience have you've crossed off on your bucket list that scared you most? (Or have yet to cross off?)

Skydiving. I was actually joking when I put this on my bucket list because I'm deathly afraid of heights. But I recently spent some time in New Zealand with some friends who I knew would make me do things I was uncomfortable with. I decided to do it to face my fear.

What’s something you’ve done that wasn’t originally on your bucket list, but are excited to say you’ve accomplished?

I just spent two weeks in beautiful New Zealand! The landscape is full of rolling green hills, cows and sheep, just as I imagined. I visited Hobbiton, went skydiving, kayaked, hiked to waterfalls, biked, surfed, tubed through a glow worm cave, and was basically on a non-stop adventure.

What’s one of the most obscure, outrageous or far-reaching thing on your bucket list that you have yet to accomplish?

Write a book. May not seem that outrageous or far-reaching to most people, but it is to me. I want to do it even though it overwhelms me thinking about it.

Who is one person you want to share a Wolo experience with, and what would you do? 

I'd love to go on a Mediterranean cruise and go train tripping around Europe with my husband. That's always been my ultimate dream vacation. We both used to live in Portugal, while serving as LDS missionaries. Neither of us have ever been back.

And finally... do you know what's on your best friend's bucket list?

No, I had to ask my two best friends. Here are their responses:

Jorja:

Have a cabin in the mountains by a lake.

Go on a humanitarian trip.

Jamie:

Duke UNC game (she came to the game with me and my husband).

White water rafting thru the Grand Canyon for 3 days.

Live in our beach house for an extended period of time.

Travel to assorted places.

Finish our yard and house projects.

Live in the mountains for an extended period of time.

Live in Europe for a month.

Thanks for reading about Melanie's experiences! Again, follow Melanie on Instagram or check out her website, Five Years to Live. And in case you want to add some of her experiences to your own bucket list, here are a few that you can add now:

Visit NYC

Visit Maine to See the Fall Leaves

Float Down the Provo River

Go to Africa

Get Surprised by a Flash Mob

Attend a Carolina-Duke Basketball Game

Attend a Lantern Festival

Visit Hobbiton

Tube through Waitomo Glow Worm Cave

Write a Book

Go Skydiving

Visit New Zealand