The Second Bucket List

When a coffee mug slips out of Celeste O'Connell's hand and shatters on her tile floor, she realizes something is terribly wrong with her. The recent stumbles on the stairs, the deepening of her voice, the growing weakness in her right arm and leg, are part of a mysterious pattern of frightening changes in her body. Celeste is diagnosed with a terminal illness. She struggles to accept her fate and the loss of everything she loves— her husband, her college-age children, her work, and the rugged, spectacular Montana environment in which she lives. She creates a bucket list and tries to complete everything on the list, but as her symptoms worsen she finds she cannot. A startling dream leads Celeste to a therapist who helps her explore her dreams and long-neglected beliefs about life and death.

When a coffee mug slips out of Celeste O'Connell's hand and shatters on her tile floor, she realizes something is terribly wrong with her. The recent stumbles on the stairs, the deepening of her voice, the growing weakness in her right arm and leg, are part of a mysterious pattern of frightening changes in her body. Celeste is diagnosed with a terminal illness. She struggles to accept her fate and the loss of everything she loves— her husband, her college-age children, her work, and the rugged, spectacular Montana environment in which she lives. She creates a bucket list and tries to complete everything on the list, but as her symptoms worsen she finds she cannot. A startling dream leads Celeste to a therapist who helps her explore her dreams and long-neglected beliefs about life and death. "The Second Bucket List" is a poignant and uplifting story about the emotional and spiritual journey of a forty-nine year old woman who is diagnosed with ALS.

Connie Myslik-McFadden has been a writer, Jungian-oriented psychotherapist, and energy healer for many years; first in Princeton, N.J. and for the past twenty-five years in Bozeman, Montana. She leads dreamwork groups and has offered Gathering the Soul in the Wilderness retreats for women since 2003. Her books include "Gathering the Soul: A True Story of Spiritual Healing;" "Imago;" "Bad Gramma," and "Willow's Gift.' Hospice volunteering has been part of her life for the past several years. She loves to hike and cross-country ski on the mountain trails surrounding Bozeman, and in Yellowstone National Park.