There are parts of me that never thought I would be writing this. I knew that there would be a piece of my story that included skydiving, but not really falling.
Part of catching you up is to tell you that in the Summer of 2018, I went skydiving. It was something that I had wanted to do for a long while, and truthfully my weight kept me on the ground. I took control of that and there was nothing stopping me at that point. I bought a GROUPON, and was ready to go!! I had to find some people to go with me and experience the day first, and for as many friends as I have made over the years, it somehow was not as easy as one might think. I wasn’t asking them to jump with me! In the weeks coming up to it, I was nervous; but there was something keeping a smile on my face that I wasn’t really ready to tell everyone about yet. The day came up and I was set to jet!! My two close friends came with me, I was in a t shirt that meant something to me and my well-worn in Chuck Taylor sneakers; the last Birthday gift I had ever gotten from my Daddy when I had turned 26..which made them a decade old on the day of my jump. I had alerted my sister that she was my emergency contact and given her number to people here in Jacksonville in case I didn’t…make it. We arrived a little late, because I couldn’t find the place at first, which can sometimes be normal for me.
The paperwork involved in jumping out of a plane is quite extensive, but that’s to be expected. What I didn’t really expect though was the tiny little office with no air conditioning and the DROVES of other people there! As we were waiting, the clouds began to roll in. The staff members advised us that since it is not safe to fly in that sort of weather, we could wait it out. What I can remember is that we were all hot, we were all a little antsy, and it made me think about the time that my Daddy had told us all that it was just a Summer shower and to wait cause it would pass. Unfortunately it did not. The only cool pics of that day turned out to be me pointing to the sign on the little building, and of the pulled pork sandwich with fried pickles that I had for lunch after we left, a little defeated. I have also realized in the time that has passed since then that a lot of my stories involve some sort of epic weather.
My work schedule didn’t allow for a quick reschedule, and I had to wait a bit to try to get back up in the air. I was able to round up the same two friends to be my ground crew and this day was hot and sunny with not a cloud as far as the eye can see. I remember the heat mostly because the air conditioning in my apartment had been out for several days while we were having an extreme heat wave here in Florida. So bad that I took my boy Waylon and sat in the car with snacks and movies played on my cell phone only because at least there was cool air there.
But back to the jump! I arrived on time this day, and was ready to go, again in a t shirt that meant something special to me and my converse sneakers. I would also like to point out that I chose the jeans I wore based on how easy I thought they would be to cut off of my legs if something bad happened. I went inside and this time was taken to a jump master super fast…this was getting real! His name was Eric and he was there to explain what to do and how it all works and then strap himself to me and jump from a plane. Easy right? There was some waiting around for the planes to be cleared and to watch some others that were before me come in, and it was cool! It was also really nerve wracking. Like..what the hell was I thinking? Was I thinking at all? I paced, I talked to myself, I made jokes with my friends, I attempted to seem like it was all going to be alright. I was freaking out. I was harnessed. I was schooled. I was walking towards the tiniest not newest looking plane. I had lost my cotton picking mind. Y’all Listen, nothing prepares you for the thoughts that run through your mind as you are about to test fate.
Inside the plane I was sitting with my legs around some stranger, with the Jump Masters legs around me, along with another man, AND the pilot. There is not a ton of space in here. I was trying to take in the scenery and play it cool. I was looking out over all of Jacksonville and thinking…why do we need to fly so far away? Oh that’s right, because we have to be at extremely high altitudes to jump into the clouds. Got it. There is a scene in the movie Sweet Dreams where as her plane is crashing into a mountain, Patsy Cline cries out her husband’s name. This isn’t really funny at all, but when we watched it my Daddy would say- EVERY TIME- “How do they know she said that?” In my mind, I remembered that and started laughing to myself. The reality is though, that I was sitting so close to everyone that my jumpmaster felt my shoulders shaking and thought that I had started to cry and was now asking if I was I ok!!
There I was, when it happened. It was time to jump out of this plane. I was instructed to walk out onto the wing and wait for the signal and then just jump. As soon as I was out there in the air, I was not even nervous anymore. Eric gave me the go ahead, and I walked out into the clouds.
Please stay tuned for the follow up of this amazing day in the Life of Suzy Doozer. If you are itching for more to read, look back on some of my other amazing posts!
Diaries of Suzy Doozer 
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