debonair 0 #1 January 5, 2003 I made my first jump on January 15, 1983. I had just started dating a guy who had a couple of hundred jumps and he bought me a certificate for the first jump class. I had never watched him jump and had no real concept of what to expect. The dropzone was in a town called Issaquah. It was a small town, 20 minutes east of Seattle with little to be known for. There was a state park and a salmon run and a grass runway skyport tucked in the valley at the end of a large lake. There's a lot I could tell about the dropzone, the views of two mountain ranges, the Puget Sound and the emerald green of the Pacific NW but that is another story. On the morning of my first jump we drove out to the dz. All I had been told was that he was taking me somewhere "special" and to dress warm and comfortably. Imagine my surprise when we turned into the parking lot of the skyport and I found out I was going to make a skydive. It was strange, I was scared but not paralyzed. I knew that somehow it was all going to be okay. I didn't have a clue how, but somehow it would. Back then there was no tandem or AFF options. It was you, a baggy mechanic jumpsuit, high top black lace up army boots, and a bell helmet that fell forward at the slightest shift of your head. The parachute equipment included a belly-mount reserve and I had to waddle to stay upright. I was a "weeble" and I was certain I'd tip over with little effort. I had never been a "tom boy" so I had no muscles or gumption to speak of. The PLF practice jumps off the 4ft high platform was into muddy, soggy pea gravel and the fact that I was jumping down and rolling around on the ground was very much outside my own perception of myself. The entire day felt like that. I tried to pay attention but deep down inside I knew with certainty that everything would be okay. I knew which handles were important but somehow there was a disconnect with really believing I might have to pull them. January in the Pacific NW is gray, cold and rainy. I was muddy, damp and dressed in baggy rags. My boots were too big and the gear too heavy. I was supposed to be first out and the plane circled at 2600' as the jumpmaster spotted for me. The door opened and the noise and wind assaulted my senses. The JM told me to "climb out there" - I rocked forward but had no ability to move. He grabbed me and sort of pushed me out the door. I reached out for the strut but couldn't pull myself out, the force of the wind and rain was too strong. With help I got out there on the step. I looked back in and he said "go ahead and hang" the concept being that you hung by arm strength until he told you to let go. HA! As if that were possible. My foot slipped and I fell partially off the step. Suddenly I had the strength to hold on. I hung like that, half on and half off waiting for instructions because I was incapable of thinking for myself. He drug me back into the door frame and we did a go-around. Then, back over the spot - out he pushed me again. I tried to do my job but let go with both hands and fell backward with my feet still on the step. My arms were straight out and I remember thinking "sky, I'm not supposed to see sky" and then the thought "when the parachute opens, it will turn me the right way." The static line snaked past my outstretched arms and the 26ft round canopy opened. The JM took pictures and I am captured back to earth, eyes partially obscured by the helmet, arms out and static line snaking up. Months later at a dz party my JM, who has had a few too many whiskeys corners me and drills me "why are you jumping?" He tells me in a very prophetic way that to stay in the sport is a serious decision. I must not jump because of my boyfriend, because to stay with skydiving means that I will see death. And, because the community is small, it will be friends who will die. Am I jumping for the right reasons? Am I up to whatever may come? The choice of whether or not to be a skydiver is a serious one. Its almost 20 years since my first jump. I've seen dropzones die, airplanes crash, and strangers as well as friends die. But I have also lived a life where I breathe freer than I ever imagined. Where I have looked down at the earth and wondered that out there were so many people who never looked skyward and would never know the possibility of human flight. I had tried explaining to non-jumping friends and family but in vain. I have argued my right to live my own life. Argued that being a parent does not mean choosing to be tied to the ground. I still try to explain but I have resolved myself that those few who question still will question forever. Skydiving was a chance encounter for me that opened my mind in a new way. I am more than I was because of it. I can't seriously imagine life without it. It's me. It helps define who I am and keeps life and all it's everyday trials and tribulations in perspective. There is NOTHING like the freedom of going full speed out the door and into the air. Lord do I love it. Happy anniversary to me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2cents 0 #3 January 5, 2003 All that anyone can say to that is WOW! Very nicely written. I dont know anyone who could put our feelings into words quite like that. Happy anniversary! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hooked 0 #4 January 5, 2003 Great story, very well written. Happy Anniversary. I remember watching a woman I know do her first skydive at Issaquah....she was 70 years old! J -------------------------------------- Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
debonair 0 #5 January 5, 2003 Quote I remember watching a woman I know do her first skydive at Issaquah....she was 70 years old! That wasn't me! AZChallenger JFTC99/02 GOFAST300 STILLUV4WAY "It's nothing 1000 jumps won't cure..." - Jeff Gorlick, Seattle Sky Divers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hooked 0 #6 January 5, 2003 Quote Quote I remember watching a woman I know do her first skydive at Issaquah....she was 70 years old! That wasn't me! LOL! Oh, I know it wasn't you!!!!!! This was many years agoJ -------------------------------------- Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dex 0 #7 January 5, 2003 Quote I knew which handles were important but somehow there was a disconnect with really believing I might have to pull them. I know exactly what you mean about the disconnect feeling for me it wasn't about my handles it was about the fact that I was jumping out of a plane. My first jump I just did, the second went pretty much the same way... on my third jump I had the willies; I was finally connected to the fact that if I jumped out and nothing opened my chute I would go splat... logically I knew it all the time but it connected on the third jump. I think I rushed my waveoff/pull on that one ;) Congrats on your anniversary! May you have many more! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShivaDas 0 #8 January 6, 2003 Thank you Deb, for a great write up, that is an inspiration Happy Anny! Just havin fun! Paul Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flailchick 0 #9 January 7, 2003 Hi Sweetie! You wanna come to my 20th skydiving Birthday party in April. I celebrate 20 on April 16th! Cool story. Right On! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy 9 #10 January 7, 2003 Thanks for sharing that. I suspect your writing has touched a chord in a lot of people. Congratulations. I hope my love of the sky endures as yours has. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liemberg 0 #11 January 7, 2003 ***I had tried explaining to non-jumping friends and family but in vain. I have argued my right to live my own life. Argued that being a parent does not mean choosing to be tied to the ground. I still try to explain but I have resolved myself that those few who question still will question forever. __________________________________________________ An observation: When I became a (male) parent, 'nobody noticed' as far as skydiving was concerned. Yet, women around me have left the sport after becoming a parent. Now I can imagine that females have to stop for a year or so, but from that point on it must have either been 'peer pressure' or their own choice. From experience I can tell that it is possible to change diapers between packing parachutes (though I wouldn't recommend hard core 4way training), BUT nobody even mentioned it to me and I am sure it must have been mentioned to all the mothers. (I even witnessed how a skydiving friend tried to talk his ex-wife out of resuming jumping after a five year lay off - she had over 500 jumps at the time...) Poll: How many women you know that left the sport after they became a parent? How many men? And why? Just curious... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumperconway 0 #12 January 7, 2003 Very well written, Neat story and congrats on the anniversary. I plan on having about 12,000 jumps by the time I see 20!Blue ones, Conway 1130 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamsville 0 #13 January 7, 2003 It sounds as if, for your continued emotional well-being, you must continue to jump. The doctor has spokenCongratulations, Harry I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
debonair 0 #14 January 7, 2003 Quote ***Poll: How many women you know that left the sport after they became a parent? How many men? And why? Just curious... I know several women who have quit directly because of having children. A couple were so "hard core" prior to having kids I would have sworn "no way" but they quit none-the-less. I know only a couple of men who quit because of their kids and they both had non-jumping spouses. With women, it doesn't seem to matter if their S.O. jumps or not. I do have to admit, breast-feeding while sitting on a toilet stall and hearing your name called because you are late to a dirt-dive is a REALLY, REALLY bad feeling! It's gets worse when you run out to the dirt dive and everyone wants to know what you were doing that was SO important, you HAD to miss the dirt-dive! [hmmm, should I have this thread moved to the women forum? ] ...deb AZChallenger JFTC99/02 GOFAST300 STILLUV4WAY "It's nothing 1000 jumps won't cure..." - Jeff Gorlick, Seattle Sky Divers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liemberg 0 #15 January 8, 2003 ***hmmm, should I have this thread moved to the women forum? ------------------------ A better place to satisfy my curiosity? (Then again, I think we know the answer already. Not much point in crunching numbers over it... Anyway, I can ignore dishwashing and laundry as well as the next guy ) "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
