George Herbert Walker Bush Does It...Why Can't I?

In 2 weeks I am scheduled to jump out of a plane…skydiving, parachuting, death jump…whatever you choose to call it, I will be leaping out of a perfectly good airplane for the sheer thrill of it.

This discussion of jumping started a few years ago when my mom decided she wanted to jump before her 50th birthday…that did not happen. Then, last year we went to an indoor skydiving joint and we, meaning my brother and I, were told that we were, for lack of a better word, too fat to be held up by the wind…so we decided that we would get under the prescribed weight and jump in ’08…now the date is upon us and I realized something…WHAT THE HE-double hockey sticks am I thinking. Sure, we are now under the required weight, but seriously?

I am going to do it, but what the junk. Sure, I have bungee jumped a few times, heli-skied, and performed other miscellaneous stupid “extreme stunts” that I won’t mention because my girlfriend’s mother reads this blog…suffice it to say, I am a moron and jumping out of a plane is the latest proof.

-------------------------------------------

I have got to say that the discussion about jumping out of a plane has triggered another observation…my mother is a saint. I know, she has not performed two Vatican approved miracles, but she is still a saint. It was her idea to jump in the first place, but now she hesitates…not because she is scared, not because she does not have the guile to do it, and it is not because she has suddenly become sane…no, it is because if something happens, too many people who rely on her would be left without her…and that is saintly.

When we talked about it, I could see the spark in her eye show up. She wants to jump. It is in her rebellious nature to tell gravity to do its worst, but to jump anyway…

Then the practical side comes out…who will take care of Grandma? Who will help raise Reagan? Who will be there to make sure dad is happy? Who will be the one to ***insert caring/giving/loving thing here***?

I still think she will jump, but it is not without thought for other people…and it probably won’t be without much contemplation and maybe even a few tears…but I got to say she is awesome. I don’t know anyone more unselfish than her. I don’t know anyone who has sacrificed more than she has to make sure that her loved ones are taken care of and are happy. My mom is my hero and she is creating a legacy that I am afraid none of us can live up to.

Sure, a lot of people would not jump out of a plane because of the reasons above…but how many of them are truly driven by fear and use those things as an excuse? I would venture to bet most of them…but I promise you that if it were not for her responsibilities to other people, she would jump regularly. Why? Cause she is crazy enough to think it sounds great and because she is tough enough to say “what is the worst that can happen”?