It began with a dream. My girlfriend Lyudmila's dream of flying in the air. She's always had that dream, since childhood, and just a few days ago, on a bright, clear Saturday morning, we set out to make that dream come true.

We arrived at the airport in southern New Jersey at 10:30, and after two hours of training, paperwork and being fitted with the gear, with great excitement and eagerness, and admittedly a bit of trepidation, we boarded the C208 Caravan with 10 other skydivers and took off for the big, blue sky.

No comfortable seats on this one-way flight. No seats period. We sit on the floor, tandem jumpers and beginners closest to the door, more experienced skydivers in the back. The tandem masters secure the connections, give us gloves, and attach the altimeters to our left hands. The plane quickly climbs up to 12,000 feet and one instructor rolls open the door, letting in a howling wind that sounds stronger than a freight train...I'm first in line, my girlfriend and her instructor will be second...without hesitation I move forward on my butt and swing my legs over the edge, cross my arms and prepare to arch my back upon exit, all the while my mind fighting that dread fear of stepping out over high open spaces that 100,000 generations of evoluton has hard-coded into my genes...I hear my instructor yell, "one, two, ..." and suddenly we're in the air!

What an incredible rush. The roaring wind, the sheer intensity and wild exhilaration of the acceleration to terminal velocity (about 120 mph in proper belly down, arms out posture), and the 45-50 second freefall from 12,000 feet, is simply indescribable...we are flying like birds, or perhaps more like Superman, or so it seems, and it is the most amazing and thrilling experience imaginable.

As we approach 5,000 feet I raise my left hand and point at the altimeter. The instructor, who's no doubt smiling and chuckling to himself at this point, on what must be his 5 or 6 thousandth jump, pulls the cord and the main parachute deploys, jerking us upward strongly but not violently as we decelerate. We float peacefully down to the beautiful green earth, enjoying the Southern New Jersey scenery over the next 4 minutes, the serene culmination of an awesome, breathtaking ride, one that far surpasses anything I've ever done before.

I land first, with feet together and legs bent to absorb the bounce, and the instructor quickly detaches. I turn to watch Lyudmila land, with a huge smile on her face, beaming with joy. The instructor shakes my hand and adds, "Welcome to skydiving!"