The Winchester brothers don’t think about death the way other people do. As hunters, they face death every day. In fact, they have actually died several times already. It hasn’t yet been a big concern for them as they have always been resurrected by God or an angel or a demon deal.  Still, they have to expect that one day they will die in the more traditional sense of the word, as in leave this world for good. We know they both have hopes and dreams for lives outside of hunting. Over the years they have each expressed things they want to experience before they “kick the bucket”.  So what do you think they dream about? After all, they have already done so many things that “normal” people dream about. What exactly would be on the bucket lists of two brothers who have always had the open road before them, who have never been saddled with boring jobs, who have an angel for a best friend and who have already seen heaven?  If they survive hunting and trials and whatever future demons have in store for them, what would Dean and Sam dream about doing with the rest of their lives? 

If they were lucky enough to actually write down their hopes for the future, this is what I think their lists would look like…


Dean’s Bucket List

1. Win. The. War. Against. Evil. Stop demons and monsters for as long as I can hold a gun. 

2. IF I ever stop hunting, find a classy lady who understands me. Do everything I can to make her happy.

3. Get a small house in the suburbs. Have barbeques for Sammy, his family and the few close friends we’ve made over the years. Grill on the largest outdoor grill I can find.

4. IF I ever have kids, be a good dad. Take them to baseball games and 4^th of July fireworks. Teach them all about rock music.

5. Live down the street from a little café that makes the best homemade pies. At least 15 different varieties.

6. Have a trophy room in my house to display my collection of one-of-kind weapons. Buy, trade and sell the best guns, swords and blades in the world.  

7. Make a living rebuilding muscle cars. Maybe even own a classic car restoration shop.  Give the cars the care they deserve. 

8. Check out the classic car museums in the United States. Top of the hit parade would be Muscle Car City in Florida, the Chevrolet Hall of Fame Museum in Illinois and the Rt. 66 Museum Classic Chevy collection in California.

9. Hit the road every once in a while to show my family the tourist sites I never got to enjoy before.  Start with the Grand Canyon (so I can remember it this time!). 

10. Just once, drive the old Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles without any detours or side-trips to dumpy towns that have monster problems. Stop at the classic tourist attractions and 50’s diners along the way. Only stay in classy motels!

11. Get a hole-in-one in golf, just to prove I can do it!

12. …

13. …

14. …

15. Use the Men of Letters’ library to help hunters all over the world.  Continue the Winchester family legacy of “Saving People”. Always.

Sam’s Bucket List

1. Stop Hunting.  Build a life that doesn’t involve facing death, demons and monsters on a daily basis.

2. Meet a woman who will love me and put up with me. Get married. Live a quiet, normal life, free from the fear that she will be killed by anything or anyone from my past.

3. Get a house in the country. Maybe have a barn and a horse. Learn to ride (for real, not just hold on tight and bounce around).

4. Have children (who will inherit my blood line before it was touched by Azazel). Teach them about the good in the world.  Coach their soccer team. Put all their soccer trophies on the house mantelpiece, next to my division championship soccer trophy. 

5. Get a dog. A big dog, that will run and play ball with me and the kids.

6. Go back to school. Keep learning. Read as much as I can about everything. 

7. Teach. Help young people the way Mr. Wyatt helped me. Maybe become a professor and work on a campus.  I could teach psychology, or philosophy, or history (I used to want to be a lawyer, but that’s just not me anymore). I want to help kids understand and accept who they are. 

8. Be an author. Write a book. Get it published. I’ve seen more and learned enough to fill volumes (Even leaving out all the monster stuff)!  

9. Go back to Flagstaff, Az. Learn to ski well enough to glide down the powdery silence that is their mountainside.

10. See some of the sites in the world.  Get on a plane and see Hawaii’s volcanoes and the Great Barrier Reef. Maybe go north and see the glaciers in Alaska, the Canadian Rockies and the Aurora Borealis. Take in the Grand Canyon (maybe even go with Dean!).  After all the darkness, evil and supernatural turmoil I’ve seen in my life, I want to see beauty, and peace. 

11. …

12. …

13. …

14. …

15. Continue to build and care for the Men of Letters’ library. Teach my children and Dean’s children about our legacy, so the Winchester family will always be about “Saving People” (just skip the “hunting things” part!).

The boys are just getting started on their lists, so there is still a lot of room to add things. Many of you are observing your annual hiatus ritual of rewatching the entire Supernatural series.  Help me fill in the rest of the brothers’ bucket lists by capturing things they have said they would like to do, or feel free to speculate.  What do you think they should do?

"When You Wish Upon A Star" was written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket.