A leap of faith...

How did I come to jump out of a perfectly good airplane you might ask? It's simple...sometimes I don't think things through! I have always had an adventurous spirit, which seems to have grown with age! Most of my friends seem to think I am insane..my family is sure of it!

It actually started quite innocently. The night before my jump, I was checking emails and saw one from Groupon. It was a big discount on a tandem skydive. (For those of you who don't know, a tandem skydive has you strapped to an experienced skydiver.) I had always wanted to try this and booked it for the following morning so I would not have time to reconsider. Even though I had a house full of friends that evening, I told no one, not even my family.

The next morning I made excuses for leaving the house early and headed to Maine. The day was cold, with full sunshine and blue bird sky! I barely thought of what I was headed to do as I drove the 1 1/2 hours to the drop zone. As I pulled into the road leading to the office, I saw a sign that said "Welcome to your new addiction!". The excitement and apprehension started to build as I proceeded to drive to the office.

After I checked in and paid the fee for jumping, I was shown to a room with a TV. One of the employees sat down with me and went over everything that was going to happen. We discussed the photographer I hired (of course I needed to capture this for posterity) and what he would be doing to capture the moment. When she was done with her spiel, she had me fill out what seemed like an inordinate amount of releases and waivers should anything unforeseen happen. Then it was time to watch the "Safety Briefing" on video. This amounted to a 1/2 hour of all the things that can go wrong...perhaps there was more to it, however, that is all my brain registered at the time. With heart rate sufficiently elevated, I went to tell them I was done.

I was told that my jump was on hold due to high winds aloft. This did nothing to alleviate my nervousness. I was instructed to stay in the area but to "relax" until they came to get me for the flight. I can tell you relaxation was hard to come by. With the unknown of the skydive and the weather delay, my nervousness started to increase exponentially! It was then that I remembered my yoga breathing. I went and found a quiet place and sat on the ground in the sunshine. I crossed my legs and closed my eyes and did some deep breathing exercises and was able to calm myself sufficiently to the point that wasn't going to throw up or pee myself with fear.

Then I heard my name over the loudspeaker. I made my way to the hanger where I met Scott, my skydive instructor and Tony, my photographer/videographer. Scott took me to the equipment room and found me a Jumpsuit that fit, gave me goggles to wear, and fit me for a jump harness. To say my adrenaline was already pumping would be an understatement. This was real and was happening now!!

We made our way to the transport vehicle that would drive us out to the airplane on the tarmac. There were 6 individual skydivers, along with me, Scott and Tony. When we arrived at the airplane, we went in first because we were scheduled to be the last one out. The plane began it's take off roll, slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed until the aircraft seemed to leap into the sky, as if eager to fly!

With the weight of all the skydivers, and the fact that it wasn't that  big of a plane, it seemed to take some time to get to altitude. Slowly the little planed climbed until we reached the jump altitude of 14,500 feet. The pilot did some clearing turns to ensure no other aircraft were in the vicinity. Then the green light came on, indicating it was time to jump.

The individual skydivers all gathered close to the door, while one of them opened it. There was a strong, cold wind that whipped through the cabin, and I could barely hear the other passengers over the howl of the wind. It was the morning of May 1st in Maine and the outside temperature at 14,500 feet is a brisk -15 degrees, yet I could feel none of that. The adrenaline in my system had completely taken over my sense of reason. I was totally committed to this jump, although admittedly, I was still quite nervous...

Suddenly, the other skydivers were all gone....and I was left staring at empty sky and the ground which is 14,500 feet below me.

I could see the skydivers as they quickly fall away, until they were no more than little specks in the distance. Then it was my turn. I was  strapped together with Scott, who continually assured me that this will be "Off the hook excitement". With a push, we fell backwards out the door along with Tony and I could see the plane I was until recently, safely in, flying away!!!

My first reaction was one of fascination as watched the pilot of my airplane, with very little regard for me, fly away. While I can't speak for others who have done this, I felt no fear at that point. I realized that there was no going back and I was, as they say, "all in".

As we began to plummet to the waiting arms of Mother Earth, I experienced absolutely no sense of falling or speed, although we quickly reached terminal velocity of about 130 mph. The only sound I could hear was the sound of the wind rushing by my ears.

Soon after exiting the aircraft, Tony seemed to materialize as if out of nowhere, taking photos and videos, all the while giving me the "thumbs up"!!

With only a sense of floating, I began to take in my view. It was stunning!  To the North I could see my beloved White Mountains in the distance, and to the East, the ocean coastline.

I was ecstatic!  The experience truly was "off the hook" as Scott had said. I was so happy and excited that I couldn't stop grinning.

Faster and faster we fell, yet I did not notice. I was enjoying a sight that relatively few have experienced. My excitement increased with each passing second. I was amazed at how much maneuverability we had with just the smallest movements of Scott's hands. All the while, Tony was still photographing and videoing my adventure.

All too soon it seemed, we reached 5000 feet, the free fall was over and we opened our parachute. I will readily admit that I was thrilled to death to see it billowing full above us. When you skydive, from the moment you leave the safety of the aircraft, you are dead unless the chute opens properly! Today, it did open and we cheated a certain death! Yes, that is actually what I thought at that moment!!

As we gently floated suspended from the parachute, Scott pointed out what looked like a small line scratched on the ground. It was the runway, which looked quite long from the down below. We continued to gently float, coming to a very gentle landing. I could not stop grinning and the adrenaline running through my veins surely produced a high more powerful than any drug! I immediately wanted to go right back up, but could not afford another jump. I loved it so much that I did end up going twice more that Summer, with one jump from 21,000 feet! Blue sky to you all!

Here is the video of the jump if you want to see what it was really like!