The Bucket List
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In lieu of Eric's terminal prognosis in the summer of 2009, he put together a "bucket list" of things he wanted to do with the time he had left. Miraculously, after an experimental drug regimen last fall, Eric was brought back into remission from AML for the 3rd time in the last 7 years. Many of these things would not have been possible without the gracious help of many others, so we'd like to give large thanks for giving him the opportunity to help make his last wishes come true. |
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| Item | Checked off! | Photo/Video |
| #1 - Go skydiving | Completed June 11, 2009 in Omro, WI. Thank you SkyDive Adventure! |  |
| #2 - Drive a 1996 Dodge Viper GTS (blue with white racing stripes) | Completed June 13, 2009 in our very own town, in our very own driveway! Thank you to Russ Wetenkamp and family for bringing it over and letting Eric drive it with all of us. We will never forget it, that was awesome! |  |
| #3 - Throw first pitch at a Brewer game | Sunday - June 14, 2009 vs the Chi White Sox thanks to Don Smiley, Rick Schlesinger, Jason Stuewe, and the Milwaukee Brewers! |  |
| #4 - Go to Las Vegas with my brothers | On June 15, Eric flew out to Las Vegas with Mike and Steve and returned on Thursday, June 18. The flight home was supposed to be a 3 hour trip from Phoenix, but ended up taking almost 24 hours! There were several flight changes due to mechanical failures, and groundings due to poor weather. |  |
| #5 - Drive on a Nascar track |
On Tuesday June 16 Eric drove the VFW Nascar at the Las Vegas Speedway, thanks to the people at Point Beach Nuclear Plant!! Also on June 20, 2009 Eric got to ride in the Pace Car at the June Sprints at Road America in Elkhart Lake. Pictures and videos to be posted soon! |  |
| #6 - Swim with dolphins |
On Wednesday June 17, Eric got to be a Trainer for a Day at Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden Dolphin Habitat! Cari, Steve, Ashley & Mike were there outside the glass taking video and pictures! Thank you to the staff at the Mirage for all of your kindness and help. Videos will be uploaded soon. |
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| #7 - Ride in a hot air balloon |
On Sunday June 21 Eric, his Dad, and his friend Nate rode on the "Pretty Fantastic II" hot air balloon in Brillion, WI. Thank you to Bill Wachal and Kerry Lindemann of Wisconsin Fastener Supply Inc. and Mighty "Z" Balloon Adventures in Brillion, Wisconsin |  |
| #8 - Ride in a Powered Parachute |
On Sunday June 21 Eric got to ride in a powered parachute on a whim courtesy of Greg Klein. |  |
| #9 - Meet The Offspring | On June 26, 2009, Eric got to meet the members from The Offspring at Summerfest in Milwaukee, the world's largest music festival thanks to Jason Stuewe, Doug Johnson, Scott Biel, and John Schroeder from Summerfest. You truly made the night very special. They also got him a spot right on the stage to watch the rest of the show with his brother Mike and friends Jason Stuewe and Nathan Petrashek, and his girlfriend Cari. Also a big thanks to the lovely couple from Appleton who tried to hold our seats for us in case we didn't get a spot on the stage! |  |
| #10 - Go to the Virigin Islands with the family | On June 29, 2009 Eric flew St. Thomas island with his family and returned on July 7, 2009. Thank you so much to all who donated to make this possible. It was an unforgettable, an absolute paradise. Check this one off the list! |  |
| #11 - Take a tour of Miller Park, and meet some of the players! | On Wednesday, August 26th 2009, I got a super high VIP tour of Miller Park courtesy of one of my now very good friends, Larry Hisle and the Milwaukee Brewers. I was able to bring along my brother Steve and two of my very best friends Nathan and Jason. I will have videos up on my YouTube channel and plenty of pictures uploading to the photo gallery on the site in due time. It was pretty close to the most incredible thing I have ever experienced and gotten to see. |  |
| #12 - Go to a range and fire massive amounts of ammo out of high caliber firearms | On Saturday September 19, Eric got to shoot all kinds of huge guns thanks to some great local area sportsmen. Thank you guys so much!! |  |
| #13 - Visit New York City | One of Eric's dreams has always been to see the Big Apple, and on December 10, 2009 Eric finally got to go for a few days. His girlfriend Cari accompanied him, and his older brother Mike met up with them there. They explored Times Square, the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the World Trade Center memorial. To the right is a picture of Eric, Cari, Mike, and Mike's two friends Jacek and Nate wearing their LIFE shirts at the Statue of Liberty. :) |  |
| #14 - Go Fishing on Lake Michigan | In the summer of 2009, Eric wanted to do some hardcore fishing on Lake Michigan but was never able to because the weather never seemed to cooperate. But on Saturday August 21, 2010 - Craig Rysticken took out Eric, Mike, and Lindsey McLean out on his boat on Lake Michigan. The water was warm so many fishermen weren't even getting a single bite. But we caught 5 king salmon out there! What an awesome day. Thank you Craig!! |  |
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Not yet checked off |
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| Meet the Green Bay Packers | We have no idea how we'd manage to make this happen, the PR relations office has already told us Eric is too old because they will only work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So if any of you have connections with the Green Bay Packers and think they might be able to help pull this off, please let us know! |  |
| Visit the "Land Down Under" - Australia! | One of Eric's dreams has always been to visit Australia. Ok, so this doesn't exactly count, and Eric wasn't too happy when mike made him take this picture in front of Vegas's Land Down Under for laughs, but for now it will have to suffice. |  |
| Get a tattoo | Still pondering over ideas what me and my siblings could all get, any ideas? Some thoughts that we have tried incorporating include the Celtic Circle of LIFE, the Greek (from Eric's Mom's side) letters of the first initials of Eric and all of his siblings, or the Scottish (from his Dad's side) McLean family crest. | |
| Go to Italy and Greece |
Due to the uncertainty of Eric's upcoming treatment and health, the trip to Europe will have to be put on hold for now. | |
| Fly as a passenger in a fighter jet |
I'd love to pull as many G forces as possible! Several people have also approached us about this! Eric is currently waiting for an "ok" from his doctors before he tries this. | |
| Write a book | Eric has begun something which resembles a book...hope to ride it out all the way to the end! | |
| Other ideas? | If anyone has any other ideas, feel free to post them on the guestbook, or email them to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
