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Th e b est d ay I'v e ev er h ad .
H av e you ev er had a life alterin g ex p erien ce ? Th e k in d o f ex p erien ce th at som e peop le on ly d ream ab ou t... This is M Y sto ry !
W hen I w as a te en ag er, I rem em b er my paren ts telling m e to alw ay s set go als fo r my self. On e of my m an y go als was to sky div e. Wh at m ad e me wan t to sky div e w as th e memo ry of th e sto ries my fa th er use to tel l, as a p aratroo p er with th e Un ited S tates Arm y, A ir Bo rn D iv ision . T he d esire to ac co mp lish som eth in g m y far th er descr ib ed as one of th e mo st b eau tifu lly breath tak in g exp eri en ces o f his lif e.
So fo r my 21st birthd ay I sig n ed up an d off I wen t! L et's ju st say I h ad no id ea wh at I was getting my self in to , an d yet it w as th e best, mo st ex citing th in g I'v e ev er do ne.
I rem em b er th at day lik e it w as y esterd ay, it w as a p erfect sho rt sle ev es & sho rts kind of d ay. Wh en I m ad e my app o in tm en t I was in fo rm ed th at th e ai r at 1400 0 fee t is ch illi er, so I w ent prep ared , I h ad my jean s and sw eatsh irt.
Th e th ree of u s arriv e at th e Drop zo n e arou nd 8 am th ere w as still dew on th e g ro und an d th e lig h t fo g is ju st liftin g . I said to my mo th er and n iece, “Wh at a beau tifu l day fo r th is.”
A s w e lo ok ed arou nd an d to ok in th e sit es o f th e sm all tow n airp o rt th at I h ad b een to so m any tim es as a hop efu l sp ect ato r, I fel t th e ad ren alin e ru sh begin .
I hugg ed my mo m and my n iece and sen t th em over with th e oth er friend s and fam ily m em b ers th at cam e to w atch u s. Th e g rassy kn oll area design ated fo r th e non -ju mp ers rem ind ed me more of a stad iu m . Th e nervo us and ex cited on lo ok ers h ad b lan k ets sp read out an d law n ch airs set up .
I wen t to th e ch eck in cou nter of th e b arn -si zed airpo rt to sig n in , I had to sho w my p ictu re ID to v erify th at I h ad alre ad y tak en a plung e by prep ay ing , and w aited to b e call ed fo r p re-jum p tra in ing .
In th e design ated train ing area w e each m et with ou r tand em -ju mp in g in stru cto r, an d beg an a sim u lation ex er cise to p rep ar e u s fo r th e ac tu al sk y div e.
F irst w e are secu rely strapp ed in to our ju mp su it an d harn ess, an d th en we h ad to get belly -down on wh at I kn ew to b e a m ech an ics creep er. W e w ere b asical ly spu n aro und to sim u late th e req u irem en ts w e wo uld need to kn ow an d perfo rm du ring th e free fall, to m ov e up to th e nex t lev el. With a wav e o f ex citem en t w e head tow ard th e p lan e. Th e in stru cto r en th usias tical ly yelled , “W ho ’s ready to go ?”
A t first glan ce th e p lan e is no t at all wh at I was ex p ecting . A sm all, tw in eng in e, wh ich w as gu tted with ben ch sea tin g in sid e. W e w ere stag ed by weigh t; th e in stru cto r said “ The heav ier yo u are th e faste r yo u fall .”
A s w e tax ied do wn th e run w ay, p rep aring to tak e off, th e an ticip ation bu ild s. Th e plan e circ les as it climb s to th e desir ed al titud e o f 14 ,0 00 fe et, an d th at is wh en RE AL IT Y HITS ! Th e differ en t qu estio n s I tho ugh t w ere, wh at am I doing ? D id h e clip me in ? H ow can I bring my self to jum p ou t o f th is plan e? A s I loo k aro und , I th in k , lo ok th is rick ety plan e we migh t no t m ak e it. Befo re I know it, it’s ou r tu rn . A s w e mov e to th e open in g I ask myself , wh at am I doing , serio u sly wh at th e exp licat iv e did I sig n up fo r?
Wi th ou t a seco nd to ch ang e m y m in d, my in stru cto r reach es th ro ugh th e doo rs and hu rls u s ou t. Fo r a m illiseco nd , I h ad th e sink ing feeling lik e wh en you r sto m ach drop s, bu t th at qu ick ly is rep laced . A s so on as th e w in d catch es and car ries me at 120 m iles p er ho ur th e air pressu re fro m th e free fall mak es it feel mo re lik e flo ating in a sw im m in g po ol in stead o f falling from a plan e.
