When Gertie Montgrand, née Merasty, turned 79, her granddaughter asked what she wanted to do to celebrate the big eight-oh.
Expecting something along the lines of travel – as Montgrand loves an adventure – skydiving was the last answer Kari Lentowicz expected to hear.
Driving her Kookum from Prince Albert, where she lives, to Denare Beach, where the family is from, Lentowicz laughed and asked what she really wanted to do.
“I’m serious. I want to go skydiving,” Montgrand told her.
“I thought she was joking. Who wouldn’t? That’s crazy. But she was adamant,” recalled Lentowicz. “She said she had wanted to go for many years, but no one would let her.”
“Let you?” Lentowicz questioned.
“Everyone says I’m going to die,” Montgrand said.
“And then she says, ‘I’m turning 80. Who cares if I die? I had a good life. And besides, it would be a cool way to go.’”
With Montgrand’s 80th birthday, on June 25, approaching, the family had started brainstorming ideas of how to celebrate. There was talk of Las Vegas and a Blue Jays game in Toronto.
Lentowicz told her family what her Kookum really wanted was to go skydiving.
She made the arrangements and booked eight spots to skydive out of Moose Jaw in June.
Skydiving bookings require the age and weight of the person jumping – among other details.
“It was about two months before the jump, and they sent me an email saying they noticed we had someone who was a bit more mature than the rest of the crew,” Lentowicz laughed. “So for her benefit and theirs, they gave us a medical form to get filled out.”
Her Kookum was medically cleared for the jump.
“She was so adamant,” Lentowicz said. “I was scared. I didn’t want to jump out of plane. But I thought, ‘Okay if my 80-year-old Kookum is going, you can’t let her go by herself. If you can’t go, you’re a chickens—t.’”
Lentowicz said she reminded herself that her Kookum was 80, and someone had to go with her.
On June 27, eight family members from three generations – including Lentowicz’s mother – jumped from the plane, with an instructor, from 10,500 ft over Moose Jaw.
“It was awesome,” said Lentowicz. “It really was.”
Watching as her Kookum came towards the ground feet first, Lentowicz said it was “awesome” to see her grandmother check another item off her bucket list.
“That was so cool,” said Lentowicz. “It’s weird because you can’t even see them until their chute opens. You know they are up there and you can see and hear the plane, but they are above the clouds.”
The parachutes open once jumpers have been free falling for about 5,500 ft.
“It was pretty cool to see them for the first time,” said Lentowicz. “It was neat. She had the biggest smile ever.”
Before jumping from the plane, each participant had about 45 minutes of instruction time, including a safety video and practice jumps while the plane was still on the ground.
“For myself, and some of my relatives, we were pretty nervous right up until we got into the plane,” said Lentowicz.
Once in the plane, jumpers are attached to their tandem instructor and prepare for the jump.
“You circle up and get about 10,500 ft and then they say, ‘Okay, ready to go,’ and you roll out of the plane,” said the Denare Beach native.
“The hardest part [of the jump] is just getting your legs out of the plane. It’s a very tight space, and because there are two of you, it’s very squished.
“You tumble and you roll, and you free-fall for about 5,500 ft, and then they pull the chute,” Lentowicz said.
“The scariest moment of it all was just getting in the plane and committing to it,” she said.
But seeing the look on her Kookum’s face made it all worthwhile.
She had expected a feeling in her stomach similar to riding on a roller coaster, but Lentowicz said she was too busy enjoying the ride to notice the feeling.
“You jump out, and it’s like there’s wind and stuff, but you don’t feel it. It’s the best view in the world,”
she said.
