Woman sky high for 83rd birthday
SKYDIVE: Woman hopes to do it again next year
| Saturday, Jun 20 2009 09:23 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Jun 20 2009 09:23 PM
Lillie Rector jumped out of a plane on her 83rd birthday Saturday.
There was no fear.
The lively lady with a passion for life and a devil-may-care approach to the world simply stepped to the door with her tandem partner and jumped.
Three of her grandsons followed her out of the door at 13,000 feet and watched the woman who raised them freefall through the skies above Taft wearing a blue T-shirt, jeans and a big smile.
"She was the first out of the plane," said Aaron Rector. "Watching her dive out of that plane was miraculous."
His grandmother was fearless on the plane ride to the jump zone and didn't hesitate for a moment before leaping into the wild blue, he said.
"If you're going to be scared don't do it," she said. "Me, I'm not scared of nothing."
She said she loved the thrill ride her tandem partner offered on the way down.
"He made little flips with me," she said. "If I had the money I'd go again. If God's willing I'll be here next year."
Lillie was born in Oklahoma in 1926, came to Bakersfield when she was 3, finished half a year of high school before starting work, raised three of her own children and then raised the three grandsons who jumped with her Saturday after their mother was killed by a drunk driver.
Robert Rector, a U.S. Customs agent, said jumping with his grandmother was never in question.
His brother called him and told him about Lillie Rector's plan.
"I said. 'We can't let her outdo us. We've got to jump too,'" Robert said.
Aaron said he'd already planned to jump and called his brothers knowing they wouldn't be left behind.
They and their brother Clint are especially close to their grandmother.
"When my mother passed away, she raised us," said Robert. "I owe her everything."
Saturday's jump is just the most obvious example of the kind of woman Lillie Rector is.
"As a kid she used to take us to the waterslides and Magic Mountain," Aaron Rector said. "She broke two ribs going to the waterslides when they were in Bakersfield. She finished out the day and (then) we took her to the doctor."
Rector said her six surviving siblings were not as enthusiastic about her plans.
"They think I'm crazy," she said the week before her jump. "I just laugh at them."
There's nothing to fear, she said. She loves her life. She'll live it how she wants to.
"I've always wanted to do this," Rector said. "When they tell me I can't do anything, that's when I damn well make sure I'm going to do it."
