Emily's mother, Andrea Halnon, was also afraid to jump out of a plane, but she "met her fear with joy and determination," her daughter says. The door slid open, the plane was moving 100 miles per hour, and a torrent of wind rushed in. On this big grief day, when I didn’t know how to cope with feeling too far away from my mom, I’d found the answer. I carried every emotion with me as I let go of the plane — fear, joy, grief, longing, love. My eyes were wide open, and I could see I was exactly where I wanted to be.

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Persons: CNN —, Toshi, We’d, “, Eugene Skydivers, Andrea, Andrea Halnon, Ole Thomsen, I’d, I’ve, Emily Halnon, hadn’t, Toshi gestured, ” Toshi, They’re Organizations: CNN, Guardian, Washington Post Locations: Willamette, Maine, Oregon, Eugene, Toshi, Eugene , Oregon, ”