Do you have a bucket list? I do. My list includes a visit to the Great Wall of China and a visit with the Pope, among others. My husband has a list, too. Unbeknownst to me, one item on his list is to go skydiving! Let's go back to me for a second...I don't have this on my list and will not have it in, ever. Planes are a necessary mode of transportation for me and nothing more. I will only get on one but never jump off any! Okay, let's get back to my husband. This blog post, is in fact, about him. So as I have said, he wanted to check off skydiving from his list. So he and a couple of our friends who are also celebrating the half century mark decided to jump together.
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| The trio (from left, Noel, Ralph, Brad) with their wives before they went up the on the plane. |
On August 18, 2012, three middle-aged men set out to go sky diving at
Skydive Sebastian. I was silently praying for bad weather so they would cancel the dive because I was anxious. However, God instead blessed them with the clear blue skies! Even the wind blew just enough to sway the
flags on the poles. They were assigned an instructor to tandem dive
with and since they wanted to capture every moment of the dive, each was
assigned his own cameraman. They paid an extra $100 for this but it
was so worth it. Each second of each diver's jump and free fall from 15000 feet was captured for eternity!
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| Final check, or goodbye??? before jumping off the plane! |
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| Ralph with his tandem buddy jumps off the plane just above the clouds in Sebastian, Florida |
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| Thumbs up! |
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| Shaking hands with the cameraman at 15000 feet!! So breathtaking! |
The skydive only took about 5 minutes but the memories of the experience
will last them a lifetime. Each had his own story to tell of how it felt being
up in the clouds, jumping off the plane, free falling for 40 seconds
and then slowly descending with a chute back down to earth. For all of
us who marveled at the sight of what looked like ants falling from the
sky, it was an equally thrilling experience. I, and the other wives, definitely
breathed a sigh of relief after we saw the three colored chutes open and
slowly camendown from the sky.
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| The cameraman's feet in the foreground as they separate for chute deployment. |
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| Landing! |
Will they be doing it again? My husband is quick to say no but the other two said they probably would. In that case, I wish them all the best on their next dive!
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| After the dive with Ralph's instructor. |
I have to say this was such a big leap for my husband as he is not a risk taker at all. I am proud that he went through with it and came down (pun intended) and landed with both feet. For those who would like to go and share the experience, I say, go for it. It may not be for me, but it definitely could be for you!
