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| Dave, Tyson, Kevin (back), Linny, Christy, me (front) |
Sometimes on one of my skydiving posts, I am occasionally asked what might make a skydive a special one, when you've got more than 4,000 of them under your belt. Yesterday I had one that I won't forget any time soon. Christy made her 1,000th skydive on our fourth jump of the day. Tyson is the Drop Zone Owner (DZO) and arranged for us to have a video of it, which usually doesn't help us out much. (It seems every time a videographer joins us, the skydive doesn't usually go as planned, but this time it worked out very well.)
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| Walking through the skydive |
Once we knew the number of people who would be on the skydive, we decided to do what Linny has dubbed "the six-way slide-by." It's almost like a do-si-do dance, but in the air instead of on the ground. We practice the skydive so we will know where we are supposed to be at every moment in relation to the others. The anticipation was high for this one, as there's only one time that you get to make your one-thousandth skydive. On board the airplane we worked out the final details so that everything would hopefully go as planned.
Jason, our videographer, took lots of pictures and a video, which are all available to be viewed from the link under the picture. You need a hotmail account to see the video, which I don't have, but it's easy to sign up. We completed the entire skydive and started to repeat it again when we ran out of time. We had about a minute of freefall time to play in the air, and then we separated and opened our parachutes. There was a lot of whooping and hollering under canopy, as we were all so happy to have been together on this wonderful jump.
As it was getting late, I watched the video with the others and hurried to pack everything away in my car to begin the long drive home. Everybody else stayed and made at least one more jump and possibly two more, before sunset. I felt very fulfilled and smiled all the way home. This morning when I woke, I remembered the skydive and smiled some more.
:-)
thanks for sharing this experience with us - as i'm certain i'll never do it in person. :)
ReplyDeleteoh wow...cool....going to go check out the pics...may even sign up just to see the vid...i think part od the specialness as well comes in facing it together...at least it would for me..smiles.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Congrats to all for a successful skydive!
ReplyDeleteI just love hearing about those kind of experiences. There's so much to celebrate in life.
ReplyDeleteFun , fun , fun! A good way to spend an afternoon and when it turns out this way it's icing on the cake.
ReplyDeleteRight on DJan!
ReplyDeleteIt is so cool how you look like this tiny cute woman next to a bunch of great big men and you still rock it as much, or better, than anyone else.
You go girl!
You have such a beautiful smile. I'm glad you had such a great reason for smile after smile.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine what this must be like. I wish I weren't such a chicken. Skydiving must be just amazing.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes have gone all misty. I am so happy for you. I read your post and then went to tell the skinny portion how amazing you are before I came back to comment. He agreed with me and said 'never a spare moment', which sounds about right. I am so happy for you and love your smiles. Always.
ReplyDeleteThat looks both thrilling and terrifying! ;) I think having all those people there who are having just as much fun as you are and experiencing it right there with you is something really special. :)
ReplyDeleteWOW....AMAZING!!! I'm impressed! Well done to you all!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so amazing! I tried to view the video, but it didn't work. 4,000???? Seriously! Good gosh! You're my role model, DJan!
ReplyDeleteA celebratory do-si-do in the air - how cool is that and congratulations to Christy on her 1,000 skydive - what a great feeling and so wonderful that you all participated and made it extra special. That is quite a shot of you all in the air. I love it. I am smiling as I read your post today DJan and still smiling when I think of this. Thanks for sharing and I am now going to see the video. Cheers and have a great day.
ReplyDeleteWow! This looks awesome. And scary. And exhilarating!
ReplyDeleteAwesome photo but it made my knees weak. As long as you think it was awesome..that is all that matters:)
ReplyDeleteJason's shot of all you is amazing!!
ReplyDeletelove the group on the ground shot too :)
you look wonderful in lilac :)
Dear DJan, thanks for sharing your joy with us. Your post gladdened me. And by the way, that purple outfit is definitely your color. With you hair and complexion you look great in that color! Peace.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you dance DJan. On special skydives and every day of your life.
ReplyDeleteThe photo of it gives me the willies, never mind the actual doing it, which I can't imagine. But how awesome for you that you pursue your dream with friends and have video to savor it. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that your great pleasure comes not only from getting your knees in the breeze but from the camaraderie among those who take the leap. What an amazing experience...and you do it again and again.
ReplyDelete"Play in the air.." :)))
ReplyDeleteLove that phrase, and it suits you, Jan.
Love the enthusiasm that you share.
Congratulations to Christy on her 1000th jump...and I'm so glad that you were able to join her.
Keep dancin' :)))
Hugs and smiles,
J.
That is awesome that Christy got to do a special formation and had it filmed for her 1,000th jump. I have noticed that every time you show photos of your sky diving friends everyone has a big smile.
ReplyDeleteThe experience of my tandem jump in July helps me to relate (just a little)to what you must have felt.
ReplyDeleteSome days I'll be driving along and look up at the clouds and think - "I walked on one of those." :-)
Big smiles to you for making this an especially memorable event for your friend.
Love the photo! I'll go check out the rest of them soon.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so wonderful that you have this activity to look forward to, and look back on. I'm not sure I'd ever want to actually do this (I prefer being on solid ground!) I am excited to know someone who does drop from the sky!
Can't wait for the retreat!
One word today [hoping the computer won't crash on my side of the desk] ==== AWESOME!!!!
ReplyDelete