Times goes by so fast! Its already been almost two weeks since I went sky diving. I feel like it was just yesterday, the day before my two friends and I were scheduled to jump. I was pacing back and forth in my room through out the night. I kept thinking about how this could be the last time I'm alive and how I'm crazy for volunteering my soul to experience this adrenaline rush, just so I can write this blog post. I called my my dad, mom, and sister that night just to make sure I hear there voice and tell them I love them just in case it was the last time. (without telling them about the adventurous plan for sky diving) The next morning I woke up early with anxious thoughts. I could not stop thinking about the fact that when I jump, I either could be apart of the 99% that lives to tell the story or the 1% that experiences a freak accident. I tried to keep myself busy to distract these negative thoughts by lightly packing and putting on comfortable attire to prepare for the drop zone.
Nearby I met up with my two friends at the shuttle pick up. Shortly, the driver pulled into the loading area. We climbed into the vehicle, as the driver shut the door behind us. During the drive, we saw beautiful views of the island through the windows. Our destination was the North Shore, where Skydive Hawaii is located. When we finally got there, we stepped out to see the empty open field where the parachutes land. Curiously I examined the sky to see if I can spot any dots, but I didn't see anything. We followed the steps into the station, where a lady was waiting for us. The table she was standing next to had stacks of contracts and pens. We were asked to grab one of each, then find a remaining seat on the bench to go over and sign the contract. My friend Bianca was calm the whole time! While Ingvild and I were going crazy and trying to remain calm all at the same time. The contract was not only one page, it was a stapled stack where each page strictly went over all the malfunctions that could happen while we are in the air. Each page also had us sign and initial to agree that we may be seriously injured or die. With the flick of our pens we nervously signed our lives away.
We were told we can lounge around until they called our group to come forward. We waited for a while, as each minute passed by the anticipation grew even more. We ate, talked, and tried to keep our minds occupied for what we knew was coming. Unexpectedly our group members names were called out one by one by our instructors who were partnered with us. I scanned the crowd to see if my partner was trying to find me. I started to get worried, since I didn't have my gear on yet. Almost everyone was matched up with their partner, geared up, and ready to go. Finally, my partner walked up to me smiling, I was so happy to see him. As he helped me put on my gear, we introduced ourselves to each other. The stranger who I just met and trusted my life with is named "Brian," who is from New York. (NY signs keep popping up every where in my life) Brian explained and practiced with me the basic instructions for the jump off and landing. Just as we were finishing our review, the group started to march onto the grass field. In a single line we filed into the forest green Caravan Aircraft.
Inside there was two rows of seats, they asked us to sit in front of our instructor so we can clip onto their straps. Suddenly, the small plane began to rise into the Hawaiian air. After a couple of minutes, we were already at a high altitude. The guys kept teasing me, knowing I was so scared. (I could see the expression on my face in my head lol) Next thing you know, the pairs closest to the door are jumping out of the plane. As my turn is coming up, there was no more time to even stress off any mixed emotions, except what was happening in that moment. Right after our camera man jumped out, we followed right after. The second we jumped out the plane, the sky suctioned us in like a huge vacuum. We quickly fell through the mist of white clouds. The camera man was falling directly across from us, while he snapped our photos. I panicked as the opening of the parachute, slightly dropped our bodies so that we were in standing motion. When the parachute was fully open, our bodies glided in the breeze as we spun with the wind.
My answer to the question "When do you feel beautiful?" came to my mind. "As soon as I jumped out of the plane, was the moment that I felt this life changing beauty. Before the jump I was a blank canvas piece painted with a whirl wind of vulnerability. Even though I knew that testing the forces of nature could result in life or death, I still took the risk and did it. The opening of the parachute was like the Phoenix's wings that reincarnated my mindset on beauty. The instructor was my guardian angel who made sure I was safe and through his life, he gave me the chance to see the natural beauty of the coast line view. I've never experienced anything so breath taking, I was going through a beautiful shock."
Brian steered the parachute while we swirled with the wind. Before we reached land, he reminded me to kick my legs up for a smooth landing position. When my feet touched the ground, I was so happy to be alive and excited to write about this experience. The instructors congratulated us and awarded us with completion certificates at the station. I thanked Brian and met with the girls. In the long shuttle ride back home, we recovered from the mind-boggling trauma that our bodies went through. I felt sea sick after, and my breathing didn't go back to normal until the next morning. But I have to say it was totally worth it! Skydiving was an unforgettable experience that I will treasure forever. Would I do it again? Yes, I would. The tandem we did was 10,000'-14,000'. Next time I would want to do the second highest 14,000-15,000'. (but not anytime soon lol) Until then I will remain a free falling feather.
cotton candy skies sweetened the Adrenaline Junkie in me,
Deanna
