"My grandchildren tell me that we are the hippest grandparents in the world. Age is nothing but a number."
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Cape Town -
Their friends thought they were crazy but to their grandchildren, the city twins who celebrated their 75th birthday by paragliding off Signal Hill, are cool.
Diane Bloch and Rosalie Wallach took the leap in memory of Bloch’s daughter, Nola Bloch, who succumbed to cancer two years ago.
Bloch said they also wanted to raise awareness of hospices.
Family and friends came to see the twins take off with guides on a day perfect for paragliding.
“This is an affirmation of life,” Bloch said on Thursday after the plunge. “My grandchildren tell me that we are the hippest grandparents in the world. Age is nothing but a number.”
While her grandchildren thought they were cool, Bloch said some of her friends were still in shock. “They think we’re crazy,” she said.
“I want to raise awareness of life and of how quickly it can be taken away.”
Her sons had given her the jump as a birthday present. “We were supposed to do it on Monday when it was our birthday but the weather was too bad.”
“They wanted to do it,” explained Bloch’s son David. “They’re inspirational.
“They started a business looking after dogs and it’s managed to keep them sustained in retirement.”
Paraglide SA guide Wayne Heuer said their oldest paraglider was 94, the youngest four. “We don’t jump off the mountain – we fly off,” he said. Bloch said it was a tradition to do something special on their milestone birthdays.
On her 60th she went on a six-week train trip in Europe. On her 70th her family rented a farm house on the west coast of France. “I don’t know how we’re going to top this on the next milestone birthday, but we will think of something,” Bloch said.
Cadet News Agency
Cape Times