Corrie's Stories: Reunions and Flying Leaps

Last weekend was my class reunion in Siloam Springs. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about going back as, I would assume, many people are/have been/will be about theirs. I'm not going to lie to you guys, I hated high school. I was in a funk throughout the whole thing which resulted in me isolating myself from everyone around me. You can blame depression, poor self-esteem, me being a self-righteous jerk, whatever. The bottom line was that it was bad and I hated almost every moment of it. So, of course, I was a bit hesitant to revisit all of those emotions and feelings and the people who were associated with them.

The weekend was supposed to start out with a float trip on Friday. I left late (like 11ish) Thursday night and drove from OKC to Siloam because I have always really enjoyed canoeing and thought that this would be a good way to get to know people and hang out with a smaller group in a less awkward environment than a lunch or dinner setting. I'm pretty bad at small talk, so I thought doing something somewhat active would decrease the need for conversations about current events, the weather, or things that happened while we were in school of which I have no memory (I've blocked the majority of my 5-18 years out of my brain).

I got to the place we were going to rent the canoes only to find out that apparently it had rained in Arkansas for the last few days. The river was too high to float. So we decided to go to a lake instead. We didn't do a whole lot but walk around in the water and jump off of a few things, but the whole experience turned out to be really good. I got to show everyone there that I wasn't too good to hang out with them, like several assumed I thought. I actually never thought that, I was just painfully awkward and unsure how to relate to people all the time.

Friday was good and I crashed early because I was exhausted from all the late nights and early morning the previous week held. Saturday morning I was up early again, though, and off to the picnic. Our reunion planners, in all of their wisdom, decided that the wisest and most economical option for our reunion was just to agree to meet for lunch in the park. The children got to play on the playground and the adults could sit nearby and talk. It was really good. I heard that a lot of people showed up, but I only saw a few because I left early to get my goal-weight reward that I have been referring to for the past several weeks. I'm sure it won't be a surprise to most of you who are my Facebook friends or who have talked to me in the last few days, but now it's time for the grand reveal......... I went skydiving!

Several months back, I was trying to come up with some big reward for reaching my goal weight. Forty pounds is a really big deal, folks, and I wanted to make sure that I rewarded myself with something. At first I thought that I could throw a big dinner party. But how lame is that to reward myself with food for losing weight? Silly. Then I thought I could buy myself new clothes. But I'm going to be doing that anyway, regardless of rewards. Lame again. And then it came to me. I've wanted to skydive for a long time. I'm not sure why, but it has always looked like so much fun to me. I've never really had a desire to bungee jump or do any other crazy adrenaline things, but skydiving has always been on my mind. So I set it as my reward, but I didn't tell many people until right before I did it because I wanted to be able to chicken out if I needed to. Last week I set the appointment and Saturday at noon I went in.

I went tandem because I didn't want to spend the whole day in training and I felt safer jumping out of a plane attached to someone who knew what they were doing. The training lasted all of about 15 minutes and I waited 2-3 hours before boarding the plane. I met a really sweet couple who trained and jumped with me. The girl had bought the jump for her boyfriend's birthday (what a great idea!), and it turned out that even though they lived and worked in Tulsa we had a mutual acquaintance. The boyfriend trained for his job at the bank with my ex-boyfriend. Small world, huh? That conversation didn't last very long, because I don't have many nice things to say about any of my ex-boyfriends, much less that one. But it was kind of funny that we met.

My mom and sister in law came out to watch, support, and take pictures. It was nice to have them there supporting and encouraging me. Eventually, we all loaded into the tiny little plane with no door and away we went! I was the last one in the plane, so I was all the way in the back, right next to the door. That turned out to be a really good thing, because I got to look out the door the whole way up. I saw the ground get further and further away, I saw the clouds we flew through, and I was the first to jump out. Well, jump isn't exactly what I would call it. See, here's the scenario. I've got Gwen, my instructor, strapped to my back (not back to back, we're spooning). And in front of me is Todd, the guy I paid to jump with us and take video and still shots of the jump. So Todd is facing me and holding on to my harness and he leans out the back of the plane and just kind of pulls us out. We flip and away we go!

Free falling is pretty crazy. It doesn't really feel like you're falling, it's just awesome. I don't know that I can explain it other than it's just like a whole bunch of wind is blowing in your face. You don't realize that the ground is getting closer and closer because you're above the clouds and can't see the ground. I wanted to yell and say something fun, but my mouth just got stuck open in this crazy face because there was so much wind in my face I had a hard time breathing. The video is pretty funny. After free falling for about 45 seconds or so, Gwen pulled the cord (or whatever she did, I didn't see what happened) and we floated down to earth. That part was pretty dang uncomfortable. Gravity was doing its darndest to force me to the earth much faster than I wanted to go, so it was pulling me pretty hard and the harness got way uncomfortable. But all in all it was a very enjoyable ride.

At one point, I hear the woman strapped to me, the one in charge of my life, say "uh oh, that's not good" and I panicked for a second. But it wasn't regarding us, the people who jumped out right after me had a problem and had to cut away their main parachute (or something like that). Not good, but they were safe. That's why they always have two (or at least that's what they said). So we floated down, keeping our eye on the rogue parachute to figure out where it landed and to avoid getting tangled up with it ourselves. Gwen let me steer a little, which was way fun. I pulled the handle and we went left! I never did get to go right, but I'm guessing I didn't miss out on much. The float down was really beautiful. Siloam has a lot of green and when you're floating above it on a relatively clear day, it's pretty great to look at.

We landed and I immediately wanted to go back up. So amazing! I would be surprised if I never went skydiving again, folks, it was just too awesome for words. If you have ever wanted to go, I highly recommend that you do it. It was wonderful.

That night was the dinner for our class reunion and I had plenty to talk about with my afternoon's exploits. We ate at the steakhouse in the casino across the state line (just a hint, most steakhouses are not vegetarian-friendly. I had to order a salad and ask them to leave the meat off. It was a good salad, though) and then went across the casino to listen to a band play cover songs from the mid '90's - mid 200's. It was perfect for our class, and we didn't even plan that part!

All in all, it was an incredible weekend. I'm glad I went to the reunion. I met lots of really great people, had fun, and definitely made some lasting memories. Pictures below. Matchell Out!