It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane…It’s Richard!

In a quest to check items off his bucket list and to make me go into early labor, Richard went skydiving last Friday. YES, that’s right. Skydiving, with less than three weeks until our due date.

Richard likes to live life on the edge. I prefer to stay firmly on the ground and take no unnecessary risks in life. Plus, I’m extremely afraid of heights, to the point that my fear could qualify as debilitating. Therefore, the idea of Richard jumping out of a plane made me more than a little nervous.

So I don’t know what possessed me to give Richard a gift certificate to go skydiving for Christmas back in 2010. I must have had a moment of insanity. I do know that I never imagined that I would be nearly 9 months pregnant when Richard finally redeemed his gift certificate and took the plunge.

Twice this past spring, Richard scheduled his skydiving appointment. But both times were cancelled because of the weather (causing me needless hours of worrying). I thought it was a bad sign; the universe was clearly sending a message that Richard should not skydive. But Richard didn’t give up and scheduled his third appointment without hesitation.

So, on Friday, Richard and I journeyed out to the Philadelphia suburbs to the tiny skydiving airport for his third try. Richard was ready to go, decked out in his Superman gear – Superman visor, Superman t-shirt, Superman wristbands, Superman socks, Superman sunglasses…and I’m pretty sure he was wearing Superman underwear as well. And despite the overcast skies and the heat and humidity, it looked like the third time was going to be the charm and the weather was actually going to cooperate.

I felt a little less anxious when we arrived because there were a lot more people there than I had anticipated and everyone seemed really casual and laid-back about the experience, like it was no big deal to fall out of the sky. With so many people there, we had to wait a while for Richard’s turn on the 4th flight. I watched the first three flights leave and watched all the passengers safely land on the ground, which also helped calm my nerves. Plus, I was temporarily distracted from my fears by the port-o-potty, which I was forced to use – it took me a little while to shake the heebie jeebie feeling.

Then a storm cloud appeared in the distance. All skydiving flights were put on hold to wait out the approaching storm. My worry for Richard’s safety quickly turned to irritation. I was going to be seriously pissed if we drove all the way to the airport and waited for hours in the heat for nothing. Luckily (or unluckily), the storm cloud passed and, after a 4 hour wait, Richard was finally suited up in his gear and ready to go.

Before I knew it, Richard was on the plane and taking off. I barely got to say goodbye. Once his plane disappeared, I was sure I was going to hurl. My neck started cramping from staring up into the sky. It seemed like he was gone forever. In reality it was only like twenty minutes. Then I suddenly saw a speck appear, and then another. I knew Richard was the last one on the plane and would be the first one to jump, so I figured the largest speck was him. I was right. As the speck got closer and closer, I could clearly hear Richard shouting “Hi Louisa!” About twenty seconds later, Richard was safely on the ground, walking across the field towards me, looking relaxed and nonchalant. Apparently, falling 14,500 feet didn’t faze him at all. I look more exhilarated than he did after I buy a new pair of shoes or finish weeding the garden.

Here’s the photo documentation of Richard’s big leap. Enjoy!


Richard, all ready to board the plane. His tandem skydiving instructor, Brian, asked him if he stole his outfit from a 12-year-old.




Brian, feeling Richard up.



Boarding the tiny plane.





The little dot in the sky is the first sight of Richard as he makes his descent.





Getting closer….




And closer…







Brian and Richard safely land and I breathe a sigh of relief.





Geez, I guess Richard didn’t mind letting Brian carry everything. Kind of reminds me of Samwise schlepping everything for Frodo.