Luke's Dream Fulfilled

For the last few years Luke has had a burning desire to go skydiving. He had talked and talked about it. So for Christmas last year I gave him a gift certificate to go. He had no idea what I got him and was thrilled that I was okay with him going and actually bought him his dive. The real reason I wanted him to go was because if we had kids I don't know if I would have been okay with him going so I wanted him to get it out of his system. He decided that he would go in May around his birthday and when it would be a little bit warmer. So as May approached he started to get excited and I started to get nervous. He called and set up his jump date for June 7th. As the day got closer I started to feel butterflies and the yearning to join him. I started to think about how I had a mental list of things I wanted to do before I die and skydiving is on that list. What better time to do it then with my husband and before we have kids? Two days before the jump I explained this to him and he was thrilled that I had this desire. I made him promise to not tell anyone about it because I didn't want to think about it or have people talk to me about it. I am the person who will not jump off the 10 ft cliff at Lake Powell. So, to say the least, I am terrified of heights. The day arrived and the sky was clear, sunny, and wind-less. We drove up to Tooele with me screaming about every 20 minutes and Luke beaming. When we got there we called Amie Jo so she could meet us there to watch us jump. As we waited for her to come we watched a 15 min instructional video, did a 10 min class with our instructors, and got fitted in our gear. I could not stop shaking. Luke seemed to be totally at ease. Amie Jo arrived and we spent a few minutes trying to talk her into joining us, with no success. Finally it was time to board the plane. Luke paid extra $ to have a camera man record my entire journey so people would believe that I really jumped. While I was boarding I had a man following me around talking to me. We boarded the little plane and took off and watched as Amie Jo got smaller and smaller and soon we were so high we could not see her anymore. We climbed higher and higher, even the mountains were small below us! Luke went first. I watched as he edged his way to the door of the plane and crouched down and jumped! My heart was pounding as they announced I was next. I scooted to the little door. The camera guy was already out hanging onto the side of the plane waiting for me. My toes hung over the edge and I looked down to see the patchwork of farms below me. The instructor counted "one, two, jump......" and we went! It was crazy! Like nothing I have ever felt and can describe! We flew down and across from me was the camera man yelling like a mad man and below me I could see Luke flying as well. It was exhilarating! After about a minute of free falling we waved goodbye to the camera man and I pulled the parachute which jerked us up about 20 ft. We slowly meandered our way to the ground doing 360's (which made me really nauseous). Soon Amie Jo and Luke were in sight and I put my legs up and skidded to a smooth landing. We had done it! We conquered our fears and jumped out of a plane at 12500 ft AGL falling at about 120 mph! It was amazing!