In early spring of 2023 I took my dog, Hazel, and my mom’s (then) new black lab puppy, Vela, to my cabin at Tamarack.

There was already several feet of snow at Tamarack, and after we arrived, it snowed another six inches.

Since it was perfect skiing snow, which meant crowds of skiers out on the Nordic trails, I took the dogs out early to avoid everyone.

Vela LOVES the snow and was happy as a pig in poop…

At least, until we crossed a bridge in the golf course and she abruptly jumped off the edge!

See, the golf course is full of beautiful ponds and creeks, so there are multiple bridges.

When there’s not several feet of snow, you can tell where the water is as you cross those bridges.

But on this particular day, the snow was so deep that you couldn’t see the water, which is probably why Vela jumped. She thought she was diving into a huge pile of fresh snow.

Instead, she dove straight down into freezing-cold pond water!

Even worse, she couldn’t get herself out.

She tried to swim to the shore, but there was too much snow. She tried to get up on top of the ice, but it wasn’t thick enough to hold her, and kept breaking.

Knowing I couldn’t just stand there while she struggled to get out, I dropped down over the side of the bridge, released my grip on the beam I’d been dangling from, and crashed through the ice to land in that freezing pond water.

Then I made my way over to Vela and lifted her soaking wet body out of the water.

The snow around us was probably nine feet deep, and we were too heavy to stand on top of it. The edge of the pond was so steep that we couldn’t climb out.

I needed my hands free in order to get myself out, so using all my strength, I hurled Vela up and back onto the bridge.

(She thought it was great and tried to come back down. 😳 “Stay! Stay!” I commanded.)

When I was sure she’d stay put, I flattened my body on top of the snow, like I was making a snow angel, except I was on my stomach.

With my weight all spread out, I was able to stay on top of the snow and army crawl to safety.

Then the dogs and I ran the 10-15 minutes back to the cabin, so I could strip out of my icewater-drenched clothes and take a hot shower.

(Being a black lab with a healthy undercoat, Vela was okay, even after her surprise dive into an icy pond.)

I’m SO grateful I had the strength and stamina to rescue her. If I’d been 226 pounds with bad hands and knees, and so sick and weak that I couldn’t even bend over to tie my shoes, Vela may have drowned. She wasn’t making any progress getting herself out, and she was starting to panic.

Even if I had been able to get her out of the water, I probably wouldn’t have been able to haul myself out.

This whole experience reminded me that how healthy we are doesn’t just impact us.

It impacts how we interact with our loved ones (including our pets).

It impacts whether we live long enough to see kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews grow up and get married.

It impacts whether or not our kids or partner have to become our caregivers…and if they do, for how long.

It for sure makes a difference in what we can and can’t do when an unexpected emergency hits.

I remember a Rebel whose family was in a house fire. Can you imagine how awful it’d be if you were in that situation and didn’t have the strength or mobility to save all your kids or grandkids, so you had to pick and choose which kids to save and which kids to leave behind?

Everyone thinks stuff like that won’t happen to them, but the reality is, we don’t know.

I sure had no idea Vela would Superman herself off the edge of that bridge!

Bottom line: what you choose to do about your health is your choice, but remember that it doesn’t just affect you.