I still am not sure if what I remember really happened. The memory is so vivid that I don’t know if I am remembering a real event or just a dream. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is the feelings I have of that maybe-real memory.

I was in pre-school. I remember Ruth and Eleanor. We could call them by their first names then. And we had rabbits we could play with and tricycles we could ride. It was called The Oaks because the preschool was right across from Oak Park. And sometimes, on very special days, we’d walk across the street together, all of us four and five year olds holding hands in a human chain with adults at the ends, and we’d have an activity in the park. One day we painted our faces. Another day we’d play hide and seek. But this day was a special day. We didn’t know what we were going to do.

They sat us in a big circle. I liked all 30 of my classmates at the school but I especially liked Eric Davidson who was my best friend. Ruth, who was an old woman but we all loved her, stood in the middle of the circle and asked if anyone knew what a parachute was. I had no idea. Someone raised their hand and said that a parachute is something you jump out of an airplane with. "That’s right!," Ruth said with that exclamation point in her voice and a spark in her eye. She loved us all so much.

Ruth said that today we had some very special people coming to visit, some people who were going to show us what a parachute was. And she said we had to take our shoes off but leave our socks on. Were we going to be jumping out of a plane with only our socks on? Why were we going to see a parachute? I was scared and excited as I unlaced my shoes. But Eric was sitting beside me and I knew everything would be okay.

As I sat there slipping my shoe off my heel, the sun was blotted out. I looked up, startled, and saw a sea of red. Waves and waves of red passing over my head and a sound like the flapping of a flag on a windy day. Then I saw the sun, a bright red dot on the red sea. Then, suddenly, it was a blue sea, blue like a mailbox. Then green, like the grass we were sitting on and still that sound. But now there were children gasping and one little girl screamed in surprise. Then a strong voice—Ruth’s voice—cutting through the noise like a lighthouse in the darkness.

"Children! Children! Calm down. This is a parachute. Please scoot back and make the circle bigger so we can all see." But I could only sit there, staring up at the colors passing—red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple. So beautiful.

Then the parachute was over me, past me, and the four adults who had been carrying it set it gently on the ground. The cloth stretched a rainbow on the ground so big I swear it would have covered my house. I reached out and touched the blue edge which sat closest to me. Strong, like the sheet on my bed but slippery, like my raincoat. A perfect circle.

One of the adults who had carried the parachute—a young, smiling man—explained that this was his parachute that he had used when he jumped from a plane. Skydiving, he called it. The wind filled the parachute and gently carried him down to earth. He passed around a picture of him falling slowly to earth with a big jelly-fish looking rainbow attached to him that I recognized as the parachute. There was a silence and a look of awe as we listened to the man who had flown through the air. He had 30 five year olds captive with his story.

Ruth took over and told us all to thank the man which we did and we meant it.

"We have one more special treat," she continued. "Who would like to volunteer?"

Robin raised her hand quickest like always. "Thank you, Robin," Ruth said. "If you could crawl to the center of the parachute, please, and then lie down on your back. There you go! Perfect." I looked at the smiling man to see if he knew what was going to happen next. I was scared. I didn’t know if I was ready to jump out of a plane.

"Okay, everyone," Ruth said. "I need everyone’s help. Let’s stand up and stretch! There! Good! Now, I want everyone to reach down and grab the parachute. Everyone, now. We have to do this together."

We reached down and there were 60 five year old hands holding the parachute. As we stood up, the parachute lifted and in the middle, I heard a squeal of surprise as Robin was hoisted off the ground.

"Okay, everyone. We need to lift together even higher. Good! Now lower it back down again. Good! Now faster! Faster still! Goooooood! Keep going!"

I watched spellbound as Robin began to bounce up and down at the center of the parachute. She was giggling uncontrollably now as a legion of five year olds flung her into the air and then caught her safely. Ruth smiled as she lifted her edge of the parachute. And I could feel the tiny waves my friends’ hands made which traveled to my hands as we made Robin fly.

"Weeee! Isn’t this fun?," Ruth said, a wide smile on her old face. "Okay, let’s set her down very carefully now." Robin giggled all the way until her back touched the ground then she crawled off the parachute with a smile so big it looked like it hurt her face.

"Who wants to go next?" Every arm shot up and Ruth smiled gently to herself. "Alright, alright. Everyone will have a chance. Eric, why don’t you go next." I looked at Eric and smiled as he crawled his way to the center.

So Eric went, and Eric flew. He even twisted in the air like the parachute was his trampoline. And after Eric went, Natasha went. And after Natasha, Axel went. And after Axel, Jennifer then Bruce then Simon then April then me.

As I flew through the air on that warm spring afternoon, I felt each of my friends’ and their connection to me. I was lifted by them and they allowed me to fly. I was free in the center of our created circle. I felt magic and I felt the presence of God and I knew that the world was a beautiful place and that there was no heaven elsewhere because we could create heaven here. I smiled and I giggled and I knew that parachutes weren’t made for jumping out of planes. Parachutes were made for flying.