is there one special thing you'd like to do before you die?

**andy b** · 03-04-2008

is there one special thing you would like to do before your time on this earth is up? you read about these lists of things you should do before popping your clogs, and swimming with dolphins always comes near the top of the list.
i was luck enough to do this in malta, albeit by default.
we had gone on holiday to malta in 2005 for the first time. a number of our party had tickets to swim with dolphins at the mediterrano marine centre.
i have had an operation on my back and this governs what i can and can't do.
i really wanted to experience being in the water with dolphins as they are such amazing creatures. i know that they were not in a wild enviroment and as such it could appear to be cruel. but as far as i could see the dolphins were very well cared for and seemed very happy to have the interaction with humans. anyway, i was set to sit it out, for fear of injuring my back further.
as it got close to the time of going into the water, my wife ,who was to go in with them, got very nervous and backed out.
this left a spare ticket. the trainers assured me that the dolphins would be able to sense i had an injury and would be gentle with me. apparently they are able to do something similar to an x-ray on us.
i ageed to take my wifes place and sure enough the dolphins were extremely gentle. it was a truly magical experience... and my wife was gutted afterwards at missing out,... after she had seen how they were with me.
here are two pics of me.
what special thing would you like to do and why?

**Chocky** · 03-04-2008

Nice one andy .

I don't want think about dying especially right now.
I have seen Naples, I live there for 2 years and 2 for years in Malta

**rolf** · 03-04-2008

That sounds great Andy.

Not really sure whether there is one single thing, but learning to fly a Helicopter and having the freedom to travel where I wished would certainly be up there.

**andy b** · 03-04-2008

my youngest son won a helicopter flying lesson in a raffle..... the trouble was he was only two years old at the time!!! .his grandma had bought some raffle tickets and put the names of our boys on them. our toms' name was drawn as the winner. it made the local news back in 1995.

**Chocky** · 03-04-2008

They learn young these days

**Babs** · 03-04-2008

What fantastic pictures andy, I have been there to and I do agree with you that the dolphins are well looked after.

Now I don't plan on going any where yet but some of the things I would like to do before I pop my clogs are

If I won the lottery I would love to open a wildlife rescue centre...

See the northern lights

Conquer my fear of climbing over rocks and walking on pathways very high up especially when I can see over the edge

oh and finish every last bit of ironing in the ironing basket

.........................................but I doubt that will ever happen

Do you know andy I found that very difficult to think of anything because nothing came to mind straight away apart from the wildlife centre...................I must be contented

**andy b** · 04-04-2008

nice to hear you are contented, babs.

i too would have the northern lights high on my list. the trouble i suppose is once you've done the one thing you wanted to do, there would then become the second thing you wanted to do and so on.... so i guess these list are pretty pointless are'nt they.
experience what you can, when you can and let everything be a bonus to you.

**Babs** · 04-04-2008

Originally Posted by andy b

nice to hear you are contented, babs.

i too would have the northern lights high on my list. the trouble i suppose is once you've done the one thing you wanted to do, there would then become the second thing you wanted to do and so on.... so i guess these list are pretty pointless are'nt they.
experience what you can, when you can and let everything be a bonus to you.

Well I thought it was a real good question to ask andy and one I have never asked myself, made me think and I was suprised to see that my list wasn't that long.

**digidark** · 10-04-2008

Bonus is the right word to use Andy. Having suffered two heart attacks and gone through a triple heart bypass, every day is a bonus and I enjoy every minute of it. If some one young dies and hasnt had chance to fulfill at least some of their dreams, then that is very sad, but for crumblies like me enjoying life after retirement will do just fine. Trouble is it doesnt last for long