This happened when I was very young.

I've since confirmed the details with two relatives who were present that day, though I am the only one who experienced the event firsthand.

For my cousin's 11th birthday, we all went to Skylieb Trampoline Park. Have you ever been to one of those places?

It's usually a massive, high-ceilinged warehouse filled with rows and rows of trampolines,

stretching across the entire length of the building. In more reputable ones, there's a safety net

around the edge so that the kids don't fly off and crack their heads.

SkyLeep had safety nets.

They had other things too.

In arcade, cafeteria, laser tag, dance dance revolution pads, the works.

The whole place had an outer space theme, I remember.

Ever since I'd seen a NASA documentary on the Discovery Channel, I'd become obsessed with the idea of space travel.

Safe to say, I was in heaven.

Manikins and astronaut suits hung from the ceiling on cables,

airbrushed blacklight murals of planets and little green aliens and flying saucers decorated every wall. A massive neon sign over the entryway would

periodically flicker to life reading, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

With a heroic signing voice delivering the quote from a nearby speaker.

This park also had a foam pit.

It was off on a secluded corner of the trampoline area, and there was a lime green launch pad area,

so you could really get a head start before bouncing in and landing in a giant

pile of squishy foam blocks.

I wasn't the most adventurous kid.

Jane and Eliza, my twin cousins, were two years older than me.

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