"Oh my God I almost died today!"

Temi bounced around like a giddy school girl. Only half an hour ago she was clinging to her chair, digging her nails into its frame, and chanting: "I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

And now she's chanting: "Let's do that again! Let's do that again! Let's do that again!"

We did it. We survived. And gosh darn it, we'd do it again.

Thursday, May 13th. I'll never forget that day. Kind of an ominous number, but that didn't bother us.

On that day, nine of us jumped out of an airplane 14,000 feet in the air and plunged straight towards the Earth at 120 mph.

And HOLY SHEEET what a rush!

The fear didn't hit me until I boarded the plane. As I signed the release forms (what a horribly ironic name—a release form that releases your life from their carelessness, should they be careless) and sat through the instructional video, I was numb to the risk I was about to take.

One of the first lines from the video was: "Tandem is an experimental form and you can die from this."

Golly. I had no idea jumping from a plane could kill me. Glad you clarified that.

Before I go on, here's a brief intro on sky diving. There are three methods in which you can go with:

Tandem
An experienced instructor is strapped to your back. He/she handles everything: the parachute, the landing, the jumping out of the plane. You're just there to enjoy the ride. There's about 35–45 seconds of free fall before the parachute is deployed, depending upon how high you jump.
Static Line
You jump alone. Your parachute is automatically and instantaneously deployed, so you experience no free fall. A long training course is required for this so you can learn what to do in the event of a mishap.
Accelerated Free Fall
You jump with two instructors at your sides. They watch you and monitor your progress. If anything goes wrong, they can intervene quickly. A long training course is required for this one also, since there is a lot to learn.

All nine of us went tandem. Two had gone static line before and a third guy had been on his way to get a sky diving certification. The rest of us were newbies.

We went up in groups of three. The plane carried a total of seven jumpers: three tandem, three tandem instructors, and one jumper holding a camera.

There were no seats. We sat on the floor. The door was clear plastic, so we could see the ground outside. Watching it get further and further away was utterly terrifying.

Higher and higher we climbed. When we finally hit 14,000 feet, they opened the door. Wind rushed in. I looked out the door and gasped. There was nothing separating me from the ground, except a whole lotta air.

The two other jump pairs leapt before me. Then came my turn. I dragged myself to the threshold. My instructor was strapped securely behind me. He told me to stick my knees out of the plane.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to willingly stick your body out of an airplane? I looked down and saw the tiny landmarks. The two dots of my friends grew smaller and smaller.

Then we jumped.

The air roared around me. I could hardly breathe. My ears popped.

Then I steadied my equilibrium and screamed. The adrenaline was now firmly locked in my system.

Daaaaamn this was a great feeling! HOLY SHEEET what a fucking rush!

Then I looked up at the camera jumper. And my goggles blew off my head. My glasses dangled. The rush of the wind tore at my face.

How my glasses stuck to my head while my goggles blew off is beyond me. I must have a guardian angel or something. The only thing that held my glasses to my face was a prayer.

I quickly reached up and grabbed my glasses. And I held them all the way down to the ground.

My video caught it all.

When the chute opened, the thigh straps dug into my pelvic area. That was not cool. I was singing soprano at 3,000 feet. But at least I still had my glasses.

I tried to remember all of the procedures. Our instructors didn't give us very thorough lessons. And falling at terminal velocity to your death has a way of making you forget things.

I didn't have a perfect landing. My instructor didn't remind me to run as my feet hit the ground and my mind was too flooded with adrenalin to remember.

So I crashed. But despite that, it was still a soft landing.

Then I did a victory dance. Shook my booty and threw my hands in the air like I just jumped out of an airplane. I made it! I jumped out of an airplane and survived! HOLY SHEEET what a rush!

. . .

Have you ever sky dived?