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It was a thrilling time for family matriarch Saroj Patel as she and her family participated in a Friday afternoon skydiving adventure.

Seven members of the Patel family bonded at Skydive Suffolk on Friday, Aug. 2, which proved to be an exciting and unforgettable moment for them. Saroj Patel was joined by her daughter Sheetal and her grandchildren Anya, Maya, Saya, Meera and Sidd for the exhilarating experience. Following the skydive, Saroj Patel had a chance to talk about her experience.

“The instructors were really nice and made me feel comfortable,” Patel said. “I am ready to do it again.”

Patel says it was amazing to skydive with her adult grandchildren.

“I felt proud that all of my adult grandkids were with me,” she said. “And I was able to finally do it with all of them.”

Anya Patel, Saroj’s 22-year-old granddaughter, notes that this was her grandmother’s second venture in flying through the skies. She recounted going skydiving with her grandmother for her 18th birthday.

“18 is a big age for a lot of things. You can do a lot of things. It’s a legal age, and she was my grandmother, so it was just kind of like, ‘Oh, let’s just go skydiving for your birthday.’ I was like, ‘For my birthday, you want to do that with me?’ Anya Patel said humorously. 

Anya Patel says that as soon as her grandmother landed, she was raring to go again, but next time with the rest of her adult grandchildren. On skydiving at 18 versus 22, Anya Patel says she can’t compare the two experiences.

“Because there’s something about your first time skydiving…I remember it, but now I went again this year and I remembered how absolutely insane it is,” she said. “And honestly, I think the fact of getting to do it with my other cousins and also my mom, because we’re all very close, so not many families can say they’ve gone skydiving with their grandmother.”

Anya continued.

“It was just honestly a lot better this time knowing that I got to do it with them and it was just something that we’re ready to do every four years, five years,” she said with a laugh. “But it was a great experience…”

Inspired by former President George H.W. Bush, who made many jumps in his latter years, including on his 75th, 80th, 85th and 90th birthdays, inspired Saroj to take to the sky again.

“I [once] saw President [George H.W.] Bush skydiving at maybe 80 or 90 and I wanted to do it,” Saroj said. “And I love the sky, so being able to be up in the sky was cool to me.”

Likewise, she shared a message for those who are apprehensive about skydiving.

“I say just do it,” she said. “It is scary at first when you are in the plane, but then you feel on top of the world. Don’t be scared, just do it!”

Editor’s note: Updated second passage at 1:29 p.m., Wednesday, August 14 to reflect accuracy.