Falling Out of Love

Talk about bailing out of a marriage!

When Lynda Ballard, 31, a veteran of 750 parachute jumps, learned that Husband Gene, 34, who has made 1,800 skydives, wanted to end their 15-year marriage, she refused to accept the divorce papers. "Hell no!" she said. "You'll have to give them to me in free fall."

So on a sunny Saturday the couple, along with their lawyer, Steve Schlosser, and six of their closest friends, leaped out of three planes flying 10,500 ft. above the airport in Antioch, Calif. The plan called for Gene to hand over the papers to Schlosser, who would in turn relay them to Lynda. Then everybody would form a ring and give Lynda a kiss before yanking their ripcords and coming down to earth.

Everything worked out fine. Although Gene missed his hookup with Schlosser, he did manage to pass the documents fancily to his plummeting wife. Three minutes later the couple made a perfect landing. "Almost everything in our marriage was done around skydiving, so the divorce in the air seemed the natural thing to do," Lynda explained. Watching it all from the ground was Gene's bride to be, Lorraine Ahern. She jumps out of airplanes too.

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