"I Went Skydiving at 84!"
“我84歲跳傘了！”

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.
作為一名成長于20世紀(jì)30年代的小女孩，我一直想駕駛飛機，但在當(dāng)時，幾乎沒有聽說過女性會這樣做。2001年，我嘗到了夢想的滋味，我丈夫安排我在生日那天乘坐熱氣球。但事實證明，這種經(jīng)歷非?？菰?。大約在那個時候，我告訴我丈夫我想跳傘。所以當(dāng)我們的退休社區(qū)宣布他們將舉辦一場作文比賽，主題是你想要的一生經(jīng)歷，我決定寫我的夢想。

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.
在這篇文章中，我寫下了我想跳傘的愿望，說老喬治·布什在80歲時跳了傘。為什么不是我？當(dāng)時我84歲，健康狀況很好。一年過去了，我什么消息也沒有。但在2009年4月底的一次社區(qū)聚會上，他們宣布我是獲勝者之一。我簡直不敢相信。受此啟發(fā)，我決定實現(xiàn)我的夢想，盡管我的一些家人和醫(yī)生反對。

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機時著陸的附近。我的教練杰伊指導(dǎo)我完成了這次經(jīng)歷。這架飛機是我乘坐過的最吵鬧的一架，但我并不害怕——我真的只是期待著這次體驗。當(dāng)我們到達13000英尺時，杰伊指示我跳出飛機。我們第一次跳到空中時，風(fēng)很大，我?guī)缀醮贿^氣來。有一秒鐘我想，“我讓自己陷入了什么境地？”但后來一切都變得平靜了。在杰伊打開降落傘之前，我們自由降落了大約一分鐘, 然后我們向下漂浮了大約五分鐘。站在云端，看著下面的景色，我沒有感覺比熱氣球上，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.
跳傘真的是我一生中最偉大的經(jīng)歷之一。我希望其他人看到我，意識到你不會因為84歲就停止生活。如果有什么你想體驗的，那就調(diào)查一下。如果這是可能的，那就行動吧！