Space.com image of Felix Baumgartner’s world record-setting skydive from the edge of space.
Yesterday my husband and I made an epic decision. We woke our peacefully sleeping baby boy so we could all watch Felix Baumgartner’s space jump.
Yes, we knew the Little Guy wouldn’t remember a bit of it. But we also thought about how this event may be our July 20, 1969. Or that it could be the beginning of a whole new era of space-related research, adventure and discovery. And we didn’t want him to miss it. (We took him to see the Venus transit this summer, too, since it won’t happen again until 2117.)
As I watched the Austrian daredevil prepare to take history’s highest skydive, I thought about my own tandem dive in July 2002, and how different my life is today. Then I was a college student focused on a goal, who got a good deal on what I decided was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Today, more than 10 years later, I have a partner, a son and career I wouldn’t trade for anything. And I’m counting down the days until I meet with the orthopedic surgeon who reconstructed my pelvis on Aug. 24.
On Oct. 25 I will visit the KU Medical Center for an evaluation, which hopefully will lead to the beginning of physical therapy and the return to full and complete use of my legs.
Then, the separated pelvis I sustained during the Little Guy’s birth can become history.
Separated at Birth 