This Is Iowa: Hospice patient spreads joy by 'ducking' Jeep owners on special ride
This Is Iowa: Hospice patient spreads joy by 'ducking' Jeep owners on special ride
AS ONE YEAR ENDS AND ANOTHER BEGINS, IOWANS ARE ON THE GO - WITH RESOLUTIONS, RESTARTS AND NEXT CHAPTERS. INCLUDING AN OPPORTUNITY TO SIMPLY SOAK IN ONE MORE BEAUTIFUL DAY. WHEN THE CALENDAR INCHES CLOSER TO ITS END-- <PRETTY MORNING OUT NOW. VERY PRETTY.> FALL LOVERS WANT JUST ONE MORE GLIMPSE BEFORE WINTER. <THOSE TREES ARE PRETTY OVER THERE. YES THEY ARE.> IN THAT FRONT PASSENGER SEAT, CATHIE MARSHALL'S EYES ARE PEELED. <BALD EAGLE RIGHT IN THAT TREE. SEE HIM?> FOCUSED ON BIRDS. <HE'S PRETTY.> BUT CATHIE'S NOT DRIVING AROUND SAYLORVILLE LAKE FOR EAGLES. IT'S THE DUCKS. <IT'S CALLED DUCK DUCK JEEP.> DURING THE PANDEMIC, JEEP OWNERS ARMED THEMESELVES WITH RUBBER DUCKIES. <OH YEAH. I GOT A BAG IN THE JEEP RIGHT NOW.> SPOT A WRANGLER OR A RENEGADE AND LEAVE A LITTLE LOVE QUACK ON THEIR DOOR HANDLE. <I DON'T KNOW, TO HIGHLIGHT THEIR DAY OR ALSO TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY REALLY LIKE THEIR JEEP.> JEEP OWNERS WILL TELL YOU THERE'S POWER IN THAT RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS. <IF YOU'RE HAVING A ROUGH DAY OR SOMETHING, YOU COME OUT AND THERE'S A DUCK ON YOUR JEEP. KIND OF MAKES YOU SMILE.> IT'S JUST PART OF JEEP CULTURE. BUT THAT WOMAN IN THE FRONT SEAT? <I'VE NEVER RIDDEN IN ONE, I'VE NEVER DRIVEN ONE.> ACTUALLY STARTED HER DAY IN A CHEVY, CARRYING A HEAVY LOAD. <I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO.> IT ONLY TOOK TEN WEEKS TO LAND IN HOSPICE. <AND THEY SAID THEY HAVE SOMETHING KIND OF LIKE MAKE A WISH DO YOU HAVE A BUCKET LIST. AND I SAID NOT REALLY. BUT I DO LIKE JEEPS AND DUCKS. (46) AND THEY'RE LIKE, 'WE CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN!'> SO WITH HER LONGTIME PARTNER GREG BY HER SIDE-- <OOOO!> ONE OF THE COOLEST JEEPS IN CENTRAL IOWA PULLED UP-- <CLAPPING WHILE DRIVING UP.> THE HYDRAULICS DROPPED-- <OH! HE'S LOWERING IT EVEN. (BIG SMILE)> AND THE WOMAN WHO ONCE OWNED A SUZUKI BUT ALWAYS DREAMED OF A JEEP ACTUALLY GOT TO CLIMB IN TO HER FIRST. <THIS IS FANCY. VERY FANCY.> <DASHCAM GOPRO - 10206 - 6.18 BACKSEAT GOPRO - 10895 - 0.03 AUDIO CLIP - 0405 - 0.32> WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS - GO SPREAD JOY. <LET'S TRY NOT TO ROLL IT, OK?> WITH A FULL TANK AND A BAG FULL OF DUCKS, CATHIE'S ROAD TRIP BEGAN. <CAN WE THROW THE DUCKS AT PEOPLE? IF THEY HAVE AN OPEN WINDOW, JUST POP ONE IN THERE, RIGHT?> CRUISE UP TO SAYLORVILLE AND YOU'D THINK YOU'D SEE JEEPS ALL OVER THE PLACE. <(SIGHING) NO JEEPS TO DUCK. NO.> BUT CATHIE WAS SHUT OUT. UNTIL - AT THE CORNER IN POLK CITY? <TO THE LEFT? OH, I SEE IT!> SHE SPOTTED HER FIRST AT FAREWAY, REACHED INTO HER BAG OF QUACKERS-- <AN ORANGE ONE.> AND REALIZED, EVEN THIS TOOK MORE ENERGY THAN SHE WAS USED TO. <WANT ME TO DUCK HIM FOR YOU, SWEETIE? YEAH, IT'S EASIER FOR YOU.> IN THIRTY SECONDS, CATHIE'S JEEP SNUCK UP TO A GREY WRANGLER, GREG BALANCED HER ORANGE DUCK ON THE HANDLE AND THEY TOOK OFF, HUNTING FOR MORE ACROSS THE MILE LONG BRIDGE. <THERE ARE WHITE SEAGULLS OUT THERE.> MINUTES LATER? <THERE'S ONE OVER THERE. WHERE? IN THE BACK OF KWIK STAR.> THEY SPOTTED A SECOND. <WE BETTER GO BACK AND GET IT THEN. GOT IT.> PULLING A U-EE, PICKING OUT A NOISY ONE-- <GRIMES GIGGLE BEFORE DUCK. SQUEAK. THIS ONE'S EVEN A SQUEAKY ONE.> AND SNEAKING UP-- <GOOD GUY GIGGLE.> LIKE KIDS MAKING MISCHIEF. <CATHIE QUIETLY - YAY!> COMPLETELY FORGETTING THE WEIGHT OF THE LAST 100 DAYS. <GOOD EYE, CATH. THANKS.> BECAUSE THE LAST THREE MONTHS? <I'M GETTING WEAKER.> HAVE BEEN TOUGH. <BECAUSE I HAVE A MASS, KIND OF LIKE IN MY LIVER, SMALL INTESTINE AND STOMACH. SO IT BLOCKS FOOD GOING THROUGH SO I CAN ONLY BE ON LIQUIDS. AND I'VE LOST A LOT OF WEIGHT.> WHICH IS WHY TRIPS OUT OF THE HOUSE LIKE THIS RARE. <I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH FOR SURGERY OR CHEMOTHERAPY. SO WE'VE MADE THE DECISION TO JUST LIVE ONE DAY AT A TIME.> AND JOY LIKE THIS-- <ANOTHER GUY GIGGLE.> PRECIOUS. <IT'S BEEN VERY TOUGH.> <I DON'T HAVE ANY CHILDREN. IT'S JUST ME AND HIM.> <SHE SHE DIDN'T HAVE A BUCKET LIST. SHE. WE COULD HAVE LIVED A LOT OF PLACES OR, YOU KNOW, AND I'VE OFFERED, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING SHE WANTS TO DO AND, BUT THIS ONE TRIPPED HER TRIGGER. SHE WAS READY TO DO IT.> TO SPOT A PINK JEEP IN A HYVEE PARKING LOT-- <SQUEAK. THIS ONE SQUEAKS TOO. LAUGH. PINK ONE FOR A PINK JEEP? UH-HUH.> AND SPREAD MATCHING JOY. <THEY COME OUT AND THEY SEE A DUCK ON THEIR JEEP AND IT MIGHT BRIGHTEN THEIR DAY.> WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED-- <(COLOR CODED) LAUGH. I'M IMPRESSED TOO.> DEBBIE CORNISH WRAPPED UP HER SHOPPING AND SPOTTED THE COLOR COORDINATED GIFT. <I GET A CHUCKLE TO MYSELF AND I LAUGH AND IT JUST WARMS MY HEART AND MAKES MY DAY ACTUALLY.> AND THEN LEARNED THE STORY OF THE HOSPICE PATIENT WHO LEFT IT. <I SO APPRECIATE IT AND I KNOW THE STRUGGLE YOU'RE GOING THROUGH. MY MOM HAD FOUR DIFFERENT CANCERS AND I GET IT. AND GOD BLESS YOU. AND GOD SPEED.> NO ONE KNOWS HOW MANY DAYS WE'LL BE GIVEN. <I TRY NOT TO GET DOWN. I MEAN OBVIOUSLY IT'S IN THE BACK OF MY MIND. BUT I TRY NOT TO LET IT GET ME DOWN.> <IT'S JUST PART OF THE PROCESS.> BUT CATHIE WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE SOME OF HER LAST COUNT. (pain) <BECAUSE I KNOW IT WILL BE COMING
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This Is Iowa: Hospice patient spreads joy by 'ducking' Jeep owners on special ride
Have you noticed how so many Jeep dashboards have ducks?The game of "Duck Duck Jeep" took off during the pandemic as a way to spread joy in the Jeep community. Cathie Marshall, of Johnston, always wanted a Jeep. So this fall, when she found out her cancer diagnosis was terminal, her bucket list request snapped into action. Watch the video above to go on that ride with Marshall, who had a bag full of little rubber duckies for the Jeeps she saw along the way.» More from the Dec. 20, 2024, episode of This Is Iowa:This Is Iowa: Johnston's mayor runs 2,383 miles in one year to help feed her communityThis is Iowa: Winnie the service dog is a star in the UNI marching bandThis Is Iowa: Formerly homeless wrestler now achieving greatness, inspiring othersFull This Is Iowa episode from Dec. 20, 2024
DES MOINES, Iowa —
Have you noticed how so many Jeep dashboards have ducks?
The game of "Duck Duck Jeep" took off during the pandemic as a way to spread joy in the Jeep community. Cathie Marshall, of Johnston, always wanted a Jeep. So this fall, when she found out her cancer diagnosis was terminal, her bucket list request snapped into action.
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Watch the video above to go on that ride with Marshall, who had a bag full of little rubber duckies for the Jeeps she saw along the way.
» More from the Dec. 20, 2024, episode of This Is Iowa:
- This Is Iowa: Johnston's mayor runs 2,383 miles in one year to help feed her community
- This is Iowa: Winnie the service dog is a star in the UNI marching band
- This Is Iowa: Formerly homeless wrestler now achieving greatness, inspiring others