Last Sunday my dad wanted me to fly
Don’t ask me why I got a present for Father’s day
I tried to convince him that he should be the one in the driver’s seat
But he insisted

I’d never been in a plane before
(Could I feel more sheltered and naive right now?)

It was a small plane,
Able to tightly squeeze four people
It was just three of us though

When we first arrived at the airport, just over the Bay Bridge,
The secretary, probably 20, was sitting there watching Home Alone 2
And informed us that our instructor was on his way
My dad said he was sorry to steal him from his family on Father’s Day
The secretary said it was fine, that he didn’t have kids
(That should have tipped my dad off)

We spent the next ten minutes or so talking with a young pilot
Who was filling out some log books
We had been talking about how
I hoped to skydive sometime this summer
And he told us he used to fly the planes for
The skydiving company in Ocean City that I’ll be jumping  with 
(He first got into flying because of his neighbor who flies the
Plane with advertisements flapping behind it along the beach)

A few minutes later our instructor, Matt, walked in
I had picked up on it but my dad was in obvious shock
He gave a short nervous laugh and asked how old Matt was
The secretary laughed and said he was 22
I honestly think my dad second guessed going up with him

After getting situated in our seats, Matt started the plane
We sat at the end of the runway for a couple minutes,
Letting the engine warm up, and talking into our headphones
(Which I have to admit was pretty fun… “over and out”)

Looking out the window as we lifted off the runway was a bit surreal
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel when the moment actually happened
I knew I wouldn’t be nervous
But as the ground grew farther and farther away
My silence must have translated into fear
And Matt’s voice chuckled into my headphones
That he thought I was nervous
I tried to tell him otherwise but I don’t think I convinced him
I was too excited to care
    My dad told me later that he knew I wasn’t

The whole thing felt like a dream
It’s like I have memories of something,
But was never there to experience it

The main thought floating through my mind the entire time
Was how strong my urge was to open my door and jump
…(While wearing a parachute)
It just seemed so safe and easy
Of course that’s not the case but try and tell flying Casey that

We got to fly over my Grandparent’s house
And we even followed the outside of the ‘no fly zone’ around the city
Close enough to see our house

One of my favorite parts of the ride,
Aside from actually flying the plane,
Was listening to the radio
Hearing different airlines and airports talking back and forth as friends
And being a part of that interaction was thrilling

I have to admit that I wished I was a bit taller
Trying to fly while being 5’3” feels more like
A 3 yr. old trying to drive a car 
At some points it was nearly impossible to see over the dash
I slid my seat all the way up and I still could barely reach the pedals
While trying to taxi after we had landed

As we were getting in position to land, my dad said
He was sorry he ever doubted Matt
Matt laughed and said we were lucky we didn’t
Get some of the 17 or 18 yr. olds that worked for them

I want to go back