Page 8 of The Hand That Holds Me
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us, Caroline?” I sing-song to her. “You can keep visiting with Navy Seal dude here on the ride.”
“While I respect the Seals immensely, I’m an Army Ranger, ma’am. And I was just explaining to Miss Caroline her, that while I’m flattered, I’m also happily married.” His eyes twinkling at the three of us. He obviously loves his wife very much to turn down Caroline. She is a knock-out and any man would be lucky to have her.
“If you’re ready, let’s get your harnesses in place and get up into the sky. It’s a beautiful day to jump.” Mitch (I read off his name tag on his suit) said as another staff member walked up to us to help Josh get ready.
After we were harnessed in, I turned to Caroline and hugged her tightly. “Thank you for this. I love you, you know that, right?”
“I love you too. Now, gocarpethatdiemMaddie. I’ll see you when you land,” she whispered as she released me from our embrace.
That’s one thing about us, we are affectionate with each other. Hugging, holding hands, and sometime sharing a bed. It was how she helped me adjust after my mom died and we never stopped. She would hear me crying in bed at night and would crawl in with me, holding me until I felt better.
I love her and my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Joe for everything they did for me. They are the most amazing family, and I know today’s adventures were, in part, their idea.
Walking out to the plane, I wasn’t prepared for the roar of the engine, but I knew that this is just the beginning of the noise. The video we watched warned us that the air rushing past us during freefall was going to be tremendous.
Mitch and I are harnessed tandem with each other and Josh has been harnessed to another instructor.
As we taxi down the runway, Josh reaches over and squeezed my hand in a reassuring manner. I am so glad he is here to experience this with me. He really is a good friend and I hope someday he finds the one person who will love him like he deserves.
After a few minutes in the air, Mitch yells over the sound of the engine and rushing air, “Halfway there!”
Now, I’m nervous. I’m about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
What the hell was I thinking adding this to my life list?
He must have seen something on my face because the next thing I knew I felt Josh squeeze my hand harder. “Are you okay?”
I nodded my head quickly, trying to show no fear, but I don’t feel like it’s working.
Its seemed like forever, but in reality, only another few minutes pass when Josh and his tandem partner move toward the planes door and begin to slide the door open. The force of the air causes the hairs around my face to fly around and the force pushes me into Mitch.
Damn, that man is built like a brick wall.
“Are you ready?” the instructor yells, barely audible.
Josh and I both give the thumbs up and the next second, Josh and his partner disappear through the planes open door.
“Holy shit!” I scream as Mitch positions us in front of the door.
“Let’s do this Maddie. Remember what your friend said. Seize the day.”
I nod my head and a millisecond later, I am freefalling through the sky like a stone. I scream like my life depends on it for about 3 or 4 seconds before I open my eyes and see what is happening around me. Mitch has my forehead in his hand, pulling my head back to his shoulder and the beauty of what I see takes my breath away.
I am in the clouds looking down on the world in complete awe.
Everything seems so small from up here and I am floating above it, feeling freer than I ever have before. This is what it must feel like to be a bird and able to soar through the sky. I see Josh below me and suddenly he is jerked up past me, as Mitch pulls the cord and our parachute grabs us up from the freefall, as well.
I begin to cheer and scream with utter delight. Never in my life have I felt so alive and free. It’s as if I could conquer the world that I am so gently floating toward.
“Did you enjoy your birthday surprise, Maddie” Mitch yells over my right shoulder.
“It was the most amazing thing I have ever done! I loved it! Thank you, Mitch, for helping me to experience this!” I yelled back in gratitude.
The ground is quickly approaching and I remember to pull my feel up as far as I can. Begin a short woman, there isn’t much of a chance my feet will interfere with the landing, but rules are rules.
Mitch touches us back down to earth with the gentleness that, with his size, is utter perfection.
Moments later Caroline comes running up, joyous screams coming from her.
