Wall offers chance to declare 'bucket list' entries

WAUSAU – What do you want to do before you die?

The question is the premise of a global movement known as the Before I Die project, and it served as the inspiration for the centerpiece of Peterson/Kraemer Funeral Home's centennial celebration.

The funeral home on Sunday unveiled its new Before I Die traveling wall, a customized trailer with chalkboard-type sides and dozens of fill-in-the-blank spaces for people to finish the phrase, "Before I die I want to..."

The "bucket list" responses varied, with many mentioning travel or places to visit. Some others were of a more general nature, and still others were very specific — such as "Go to a musical in New York and buy diamond earrings at Tiffany's."

That one was chalked on by Theresa Schulta, 64, of Wausau — a cancer survivor.

"I've never been to New York to see a Broadway play and would just love to walk the streets and I would just love to go to Tiffany's to buy some earrings," Schulta said.

The project got its start as a community experiment on the side of an abandoned building in New Orleans. Artist Candy Chang, struggling with the loss of a loved one, got permission to repurpose one of the building's exterior walls by painting it with chalkboard paint and stenciling it to read "Before I Die I Want To…" Anyone who happened by could pick up a piece of chalk and share aspirations. By the next day, the wall was full. There are now more than 525 Before I Die walls in over 30 languages and 70 countries, according to the Before I Die website.

Mary Miller, Peterson/Kraemer pre-planning specialist, said she learned of the project about a year ago and thought it would be a good fit for the funeral home and a good tie-in for the organization's 100th anniversary.

"In the funeral business, our job traditionally is seen as helping people deal with death after it's happened," Miller said. "That is what we're here for. But if there are opportunities like this that we can help people think ahead and prepare so that when a death does happen, maybe there aren't so many regrets."

Peterson/Kraemer owner and funeral director Greg Zoromski said Miller and his daughter, Anna Zoromski-Linde, were the ones who sold him on the idea.

"We just thought we would give it a try because it's been so well-received throughout the world," Zoromski said.

Zoromski said the funeral home decided to use a trailer — about 12 feet long and 8 feet wide — so it could be moved between the funeral home's five locations and also be able to be transported to other events in the area.

About an hour into Sunday's open house at the funeral home's Sixth Street location, some of the entries were specific, like "visit Paris" or "go to Canada and fly a kite," and others were a bit more quixotic: "end war forever" and "love and be loved completely."

Dorothy Parker, 85, of Wausau said her hope is to "take a road trip with a nice, big RV with about six to eight relatives in it, and just start out and go south."

She called the wall a "fabulous" idea.

"I think it's food for thought because so many of us are so busy now we just think there's no end, and tomorrow will come sooner than we think," Parker said.

Bob Dohr can be reached at 715-845-0660. Find him on Twitter as @BobDohr1.