Lancaster2

Well, I have done it! I did not really know what I was letting myself in for when some 8 months ago I agreed to do a parachute jump. I thought it might be rather scary, a sort of extra large Blackpool ride. On the day I was in for a very big surprise. Things happened very quickly because the weather forecast for the day of the jump was very bad. Consequently, the Parachute Centre rang up the day before and recommended very strongly that I should arrive at the Parachute Centre immediately if I was serious about this jump. Some 90 minutes later I was indeed at the Parachute Centre, in full kit, having received my instructions.	Falling for the Mothers' Union! Monika in 10,000 feet descent	What followed is difficult to put into words. The initial free-fall stage (which lasts about 30 seconds) is very fast (up to 120 mph) and very noisy. At a height of 5 000 feet, however, the parachute opens and everything becomes very, very quite. There is no noise at all up there. That was a very special feeling. On landing and meeting some of my friends, family and supporters, I wished so much that some of that wonderful feeling of peace could rub off onto those who had been firmly on the ground during my 4 minute descent. It was a most remarkable experience, and may I take this opportunity to thank all those Mothers’ Union members who had sponsored me on this most amazing venture. During my bedtime reading that same day I came across the following sentence which so well summed up the experience for me: “Safety is not the absence of danger but the presence of God.” *Monika Taylor, E.M*

	I was transported to a height of 10,000 feet by an aircraft called a Cessna 185. The journey was an experience in itself – no-one had told me that the aircraft was just about to retire a couple of days later! The plane was rather small, and I was sitting on the floor, as there were no benches inside, shoulder to shoulder with the pilot. The Parachute Centre is located at Cockerham, just a small distance away from Dolphinholme where I live, and the pilot very kindly flew over Dolphinholme Church and Vicarage.