Your Bucket List Doesn’t Have a “Do It Alone” Rule | Companion Care in La Crosse, WI

How companion care helps women 50+ in the La Crosse area live life fully, one shared adventure at a time.

A Bucket List for the Rest of Us

There’s a scene in The Bucket List that has stayed with me for years. Two men, facing the end of their lives, decide they’re not finished yet. They make a list of everything they still want to experience, and they set out to do it together. Not alone. Together.

That image comes back to me often in my work as a companion care provider here in La Crosse, WI. I meet women in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond who carry their own kind of list, sometimes written down, sometimes just a quiet longing. Places they want to visit. Things they want to try. Afternoons they want to spend doing something other than sitting at home wondering when life started feeling so still.

The list isn’t the hard part. The hard part is that somewhere along the way, they started believing they had to do it all on their own. Or worse, that the time for those things had passed.

I’m here to tell you it hasn’t. Not even close.

Solo Aging Is on the Rise, and Support Looks Different Now

If you’re living alone after 50, you’re in good company. Around 24 million Americans in this age group are doing the same. Some by choice, some by circumstance, most by some combination of the two. Divorce, widowhood, children who’ve moved across the country, friendships that shifted after retirement... the reasons are as varied as the women themselves.

What the research consistently tells us is that isolation carries real weight. It affects the body as much as the spirit. Loneliness has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, cognitive decline, and depression. Not because being alone is inherently harmful, but because human beings are wired for connection. We need it the way we need sunlight and water.

There’s also a cultural silence around asking for help, especially for women who have spent most of their lives being the ones everyone else leaned on. You were the one who held things together for your family, your community, your workplace. Turning around and saying "I could use some support" can feel strange, even uncomfortable. I see this all the time, and I want you to know: needing companionship is not a shortcoming. It’s a deeply human truth.

Here’s what I want you to hear: solo aging doesn’t have to mean aging without support. It doesn’t mean doing everything by yourself, and it certainly doesn’t mean giving up the experiences that make life feel rich and full.

This is where companion care comes in, and it looks very different from what most people imagine.

When I say companion care, I’m not talking about medical services or clinical check-ins. I’m talking about presence. A real person who shows up, who walks beside you, who helps you get out and do the things that matter to you. Think of it less like a service and more like a partnership for living well.

For many of the women I work with, the need isn’t for someone to take over. It’s for someone to come alongside. An extra pair of hands. Steady companionship. Someone who says, "I’ll go with you."

Sometimes the women I meet are also moving through something deeper, a season of questioning who they are now that the roles they carried for decades have shifted. If that resonates with you, I’d gently encourage you to explore what spiritual life coaching can offer during these transitions. It’s another way of finding your footing when the ground feels unfamiliar.

What a Companion Care Bucket List Looks Like in La Crosse, WI

I think one of the most beautiful things about living in the Coulee Region is how much there is to experience right outside your door. When I imagine a companion care bucket list for the women I serve, it doesn’t start with a plane ticket. It starts with a Tuesday morning and a willingness to say yes.

Picture this: a slow drive up to Grandad Bluff on a clear fall day, the kind where the river valley opens up below you in golds and reds, and everything feels expansive again. You don’t have to hike the trail alone to take it in. You just need someone beside you who is happy to be there.

Or maybe it’s a Saturday morning at the Cameron Park Farmers Market, picking out fresh tomatoes, listening to a local musician play under the pavilion, stopping for a cup of coffee from one of the vendors. These aren’t grand gestures. They’re the small, steady pleasures that remind you life still has texture and sweetness.

Here are some of the outings I love to share with the women I walk alongside:

• A morning walk along the Riverside Park trail, watching the river move and letting the conversation move with it

• Catching a live performance at the Pump House Regional Arts Center, because art feeds something words can’t always reach

• A quiet afternoon at the La Crosse Public Library or a local museum, browsing at your own pace with good company beside you

• Lunch at a downtown café, taking your time, enjoying a meal that someone else prepared for a change

• Exploring Myrick Park or the Hixon Forest trails on a gentle day, moving at whatever pace feels right

• Attending a seasonal event, whether it’s Oktoberfest, a holiday market, or a summer concert in the park

• Visiting Pearl Street Gallery or the Pump House gallery exhibits, letting creativity spark something in you

• A simple drive through the bluffs with no agenda, no schedule, just the road and the view and someone to share it with

None of these require extraordinary physical ability or a packed itinerary. They just require willingness, and someone who is genuinely glad to be there with you. That’s what companion care is. It’s the difference between thinking about going and actually going.

You’re Not Starting Over. You’re Starting What’s Next.

I know the weight of change. I’ve sat with women who lost a spouse after 40 years of marriage. I’ve walked beside women navigating divorce in their 50s, trying to figure out who they are outside of the life they built with someone else. I’ve held space for the quiet grief that comes when your children grow up and your house goes silent.

These transitions are real, and they deserve to be honored. There is no timeline for grief, no correct way to move through loss. I would never suggest otherwise.

What I will say is this: there is life on the other side. Not a replacement for what was, but something new and tender and yours. Seeking companionship during this season isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s one of the bravest, most honest things you can do.

I’ve watched women go from barely leaving the house to looking forward to their week again. Not because anything dramatic changed, but because they had someone to share it with. A walk became something to anticipate instead of something to avoid. A trip to the farmers market became a morning ritual instead of something that felt too hard to do alone. Joy doesn’t always arrive in grand, sweeping moments. Sometimes it returns quietly, through small, repeated acts of showing up for your own life.

I bring to this work a lifetime of listening, refined through my experience as an end-of-life doula, deepened through spiritual practice, and lived through my own devotion to experiencing life fully and honestly. I am equally at home in stillness and in motion, in meditation, on a trail, in water, in the sky, and I carry that same openness into the lives of those I serve.

Some of the women I companion are also walking alongside a loved one who is nearing the end of life. If that’s part of your journey right now, I want you to know you don’t have to carry that alone either. Understanding what to expect during end-of-life transitions can bring real comfort during an uncertain time.

Wherever you are in this passage, I see you. You’re not starting over. You’re starting what’s next.

Why I Do This Work

There is a quiet knowing that comes with time, a soft gathering of all we have lived. The roles we have carried, the hands we have held, the thresholds we have crossed in joy, in loss, in becoming.

I have walked many paths in this lifetime, as mother and daughter, as witness to endings, as a guide through new beginnings. Through it all, one truth has remained: we are not meant to move through life unseen.

The Lighthouse is the name I have given to the way I walk beside others now. Not to lead, not to change your course, but to stand gently with you as you find your own way forward.

Sometimes this looks like quiet companionship, a shared afternoon, a walk, a conversation. Sometimes it is practical support, an appointment, a journey, a moment that feels easier because you are not alone. Always, it is presence.

If you are in a moment of change, or simply longing for thoughtful, steady companionship, this is an invitation. To be met where you are. To be accompanied without pressure or pretense. To remember that even in uncertainty, there can be ease.

The Lighthouse does not tell you where to go. It simply shines, so you can see your own way more clearly.

How Lighthouse Personal Support Works

Lighthouse Personal Support is non-medical companion care built around your life, your pace, and your needs. I serve women in La Crosse, Onalaska, Holmen, West Salem, and surrounding Coulee Region communities.

It starts with a conversation. You tell me what your days look like, what you’ve been missing, what feels hard to do alone. From there, we shape something that fits. Maybe it’s a weekly outing. Maybe it’s help getting to appointments. Maybe it’s simply having someone to sit with who genuinely cares how you’re doing.

There is no contract, no pressure, and no one-size-fits-all plan. Just a relationship rooted in trust, warmth, and the belief that you deserve to live fully at every age.

If you’d like to learn more about what this could look like for you, I’d love to hear from you. You can visit the Lighthouse Personal Support page or reach out to start a conversation. There’s no obligation. Just an open door.

Questions Women Ask About Companion Care

What is companion care, and how is it different from home health care?

Companion care is non-medical personal support focused on connection, social engagement, and everyday living. It’s not about medical treatments or clinical services. It’s about having someone by your side who helps life feel less isolated and more full.

Who is companion care for?

It’s for anyone who could use a little extra help or simply wants steady companionship. Many of the women I work with are navigating life after loss, divorce, retirement, or a shift in independence. Some are perfectly capable on their own and just want someone to share experiences with.

Does Medicare cover companion care?

In most cases, Medicare does not cover non-medical companion care. These services fall outside the scope of medical coverage. I’m happy to talk through options and what might work for your situation.

What kinds of activities can a companion help with?

Everything from social outings and errands to appointments, walks, meals, and simply spending time together. The goal is always to support you in doing the things that matter to you, whatever those may be.

Shanen Baures is the founder of Journey Within Coach, offering Spiritual Life Coaching, Lighthouse Personal Support, and End-of-Life Doula Care in the La Crosse, Wisconsin area. She believes that every woman deserves to be seen, supported, and accompanied through life’s most meaningful moments.