50 things at fifty!

Dawn Lewis, 51, ticked off a bucket list to celebrate her milestone birthday

- By Rachel Tompkins

Scrolling through Facebook in June 2021, I noticed an advert pop up for a pack of cards called 50 Things To Do When You Are 50. I was a week away from my 50th birthday and I’d already decided I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. I’d imagined having a 1980s-themed party but COVID-19 restrictions meant I couldn’t see anyone. So, I bought the cards!

A few days later, a little black box arrived. I put it on the kitchen table and my husband Andrew, then 54, and our children Hannah, 22, and Alan, 20, gathered around as I opened it. Inside were 50 little envelopes, 45 of them with suggestions of things to do and five blank cards to make up your own challenges. ‘Better get planning!’ I beamed.

‘Do something scary,’ Hannah read from another card. ‘Skydive?’ she suggested with a cheeky grin. In all my five decades, I would’ve immediately and firmly said no. But, I reasoned, you’re only 50 once…

HOT-AIR BALLOON

Before the sun had risen on 6 May 2022, my sister Diane, then 48, and I drove to Petworth in West Sussex for our maiden flight in a hot-air balloon. As well as ticking off the ‘take a trip in a hot-air balloon’ card, it was also a celebration of 30 years since Diana had had a kidney transplant. The pilot lit the burner around 6am, and we slowly rose into the sky. Climbing higher and higher, we watched as the clouds cleared and the sky turned a warm, orange colour and the sun began to appear. It was an incredible morning.