The Joys of Skydiving Essay -- Personal Narrative, essay about myself

It was a warm and sunny Saturday morning when my friend, Sivi, and I left our home to travel to the small local airport located outside of town. Just the previous night we had received 4 hours of classroom training in how to perform a successful "Skydive" and now we would receive 4 more hours of practical, hands-on training. Sivi and I have spent a lot of time talking with, and taking care of Senior Citizens on a volunteer basis. Through many conversations, we discovered that one of the major regrets that people have, as the near the end, is that they didn't experience everything that they wanted to when they were younger. The major reason for this was fear. Fear that they would fail or fear that they might be injured. Sivi and I had decided years ago that we would never allow fear to prevent us from trying something new. Now, in our middle and late forties, we had decided to voluntarily jump out of a perfectly good airplane just for the experience of doing so. When we arrived at the airport, there were about 10 other people. Most of them were men and we were the only couple. Of course the first matter of business was to read and sign a waiver that stated that we would NOT hold the skydiving school liable if our jump turned out to be, shall we say, less than perfect. I must admit that this certainly brought out some of the apprehension that Sivi and I had managed to bury deep inside ourselves. Next, we were sent to a shed where there were several sets of coveralls. Here we were instructed to pick out a pair of coveralls and a helmet that fit (as best as possible) and put them on. I must say that I felt more than a little silly wearing a pair of torn and uncomfortably tight coveralls ... ...ove the ground, I yanked down on the parachute control straps with all of my strength. The parachute got more air, and I slowed, almost to a standstill, and gently touched the ground. As my feet touched the Earth, I went into my roll and then stood back up. No broken bones or bruises. Sivi, immediately came out to greet me, and we both felt a great sense of relief and pride. Once again we managed to overcome our fears and experience something that cannot be imagined or viewed like a movie, but must be felt. As we walked to our car, we realized just how much the day had taken out of us physically. We were both bruised and sore from our practice jumps into the gravel pit and very tired. But, at the same time, our souls felt warm and satisfied at discovering that we could overcome our fears and experience the joy and freedom of skydiving.