"I Went Skydiving at 84!"
“我84岁跳伞了！”
As a young girl growing up in the 1930s, I always wanted to fly a plane, but back then it was almost unheard of for a woman to do that. I got a taste of the dream in 2001, when my husband arranged for me to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. But the experience turned out to be very dull. Around that time, I told my husband that I wanted to skydive. So when our retirement community announced that they were having an essay competition and the topic was an experience of a lifetime that you wanted to have. I decided to write about my dream.
作为一名成长于20世纪30年代的小女孩，我一直想驾驶飞机，但在当时，几乎没有听说过女性会这样做。2001年，我尝到了梦想的滋味，我丈夫安排我在生日那天乘坐热气球。但事实证明，这种经历非常枯燥。大约在那个时候，我告诉我丈夫我想跳伞。所以当我们的退休社区宣布他们将举办一场作文比赛，主题是你想要的一生经历，我决定写我的梦想。
In the essay, I wrote about my desire to skydive, stating Gorge Bush Sr. did it at age 80. Why not me? I was just 84 and in pretty good health. A year went by and I heard nothing. But then at a community party in late April 2009, they announced that I was one of the winners. I just couldn't believe it. Inspired by this, I decided to realize my dream, even though some of my family members and my doctor were against it.
在这篇文章中，我写下了我想跳伞的愿望，说老乔治·布什在80岁时跳了伞。为什么不是我？当时我84岁，健康状况很好。一年过去了，我什么消息也没有。但在2009年4月底的一次社区聚会上，他们宣布我是获胜者之一。我简直不敢相信。受此启发，我决定实现我的梦想，尽管我的一些家人和医生反对。
On June 11, 2009, nearly 40 of my family and friends gathered in the area close to where I would land while I headed up in the airplane. My instructor, Jay, guided me through the experience. The plane was the noisiest one I had ever been in, but I wasn't frightened—I was really just looking forward to the experience. When we reached 13,000 feet, Jay instructed me to throw myself out of the plane. When we first hit the air, the wind was so strong that I could hardly breathe. For a second I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” But then everything got calmer. We were in a free fall for about a minute before Jay opened the parachute, then we just floated downward for about five minutes. Being up in the clouds and looking at the view below was unlike anything I have ever felt—much better than the hot air balloon. I was just enjoying it.
2009年6月11日，我的近40位家人和朋友聚集在我登机时着陆的附近。我的教练杰伊指导我完成了这次经历。这架飞机是我乘坐过的最吵闹的一架，但我并不害怕——我真的只是期待着这次体验。当我们到达13000英尺时，杰伊指示我跳出飞机。我们第一次跳到空中时，风很大，我几乎喘不过气来。有一秒钟我想，“我让自己陷入了什么境地？”但后来一切都变得平静了。在杰伊打开降落伞之前，我们自由降落了大约一分钟, 然后我们向下漂浮了大约五分钟。站在云端，看着下面的景色，我没有感觉比热气球上，我只是很享受。
Skydiving was really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope other people will look at me and realize that you don't stop living just because you are 84 years old. If there's something you want to experience, look into it. If it's something that is possible, make it happen.
跳伞真的是我一生中最伟大的经历之一。我希望其他人看到我，意识到你不会因为84岁就停止生活。如果有什么你想体验的，那就调查一下。如果这是可能的，那就行动吧！
