Emma waiting patiently at the drop zone. They almost didn't let me jump. When I was going through all the waivers and paperwork, one of the lines said, "I do not have a chronic illness, or take regular medication, have high blood pressure or kidney disease." I looked at the lady and said, "I have ALL of the above." She said that we needed to talk with the director and get his approval first, otherwise, they were not going to let me go! So we had to wait over an hour outside in the sun for this guy to finish his jump rotation.
One of my best friends, Jenn (her son was the birthday boy in the previous post), she said, "oh we're not leaving until this guy agrees to let you jump!" So she marched right up to him and begged him to let me go. The guy had never even heard of lupus, so I explained it to him and told him I was comfortable knowing my condition and still going up. I said, "I'm not going to put myself in a situation that would cause long term health problems, I have a 1 year old." So after he saw how cute Emma was and that I had a pretty good crowd waiting around to see me jump, he agreed!!!!! So then we got to wait some more, but I finally got to go!
Totally stoked! Waiting for my tandem dive partner to get my gear on properly.
The guy in the red suit is my videographer. He jumped at the same time as me with a helmet cam. I should have the video in a few days! And Brett Michaels was my tandem diver!!!! Ok, so he's not really Brett, but he had the bandana and the long blonde hair! His call sign was ROCK! Great guy - made the jump so fun!
Getting everything all snug and tight.
Trying to not feel totally weird having some guy I don't even know, yanking and pulling on my shorts and straps and I don't even know what else! hahahah
Emma was such a trooper! So patient, she gets that from her Daddy!
I got one practice out of the door on this model.
Brett and I are ready to ROCK!
Taking off, since I was the last one in the plane, that meant I was the FIRST one to jump!
Brett looks happy!
Oh my, at 12,500 feet, those houses look pretty small!
Ready, set, JUUUUUUUMMMMPPPP!
Hooooooolllllyyyyyyyyy ccccrrraaappppppp!We are falling at a speed of 120 mph!!!!
Ok, don't look at how ridiculous I look in these goggles. I definitely did not make that look cool. But the free fall was AWESOME!
Fly like an eagle!
weeeeeeeeeeeee, what a rush!
and parachute deploys
Can you see me?
Coming in for a landing ...
on our butts! Shorts was a BAD idea! I got so much dirt and tumbleweed up in there, next time I'm wearing pants!
Taking a minute to soak it all in. What a fun day!
We survived!! And again, I realize how ridiculous I look in these goggles!
Taking our victory walk back through the crowd!Such an incredible experience. I am so glad that Jenn, Scott, Jake and Ryan were able to hang out with us all day in the heat just to watch me jump! They are such great friends. And so thankful that my husband was totally cool with me doing something this crazy! He was wonderful! Completely supportive of my need to feel alive again. I told him that ever since I was diagnosed with lupus (3.5 years ago) I felt like I was living in a bubble and not really experiencing life anymore. That I needed something to get the blood pumping and the adrenaline rushing and boy did this do the trick!!!! I LOVE SKY DIVING!!!! Might have to do it again!
On a side note: The lupus quilt on eBay sold for $355.00!!!! And the highest bidder was my Mom! YEAH!!!! Thanks Mom!!!
AWESOME!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you convinced them to let you go. I can totally understand the not feeling alive concept. There are days with 4 kids that I'm right there with you on that.
Hope you get to do it again!!