A Christmas Miracle (by Hank)

I realize that some of you have forgotten that I am a contributor to this blog, much less a member of this family. Because, upon reflection, I realized I had not even posted since before Grayson was born. I won't even go into the changes (good and bad) this event has wrought on my existence.

Before I tell the story of the Team Dickerson Christmas Miracle 2009, I would like to remind you of the Christmas Catastrophe of 2008. Click here to read about it.

This year's story started Christmas morning while the family was opening presents. By the way, guess who didn't get a single present??! Of course Grayson was showered with gifts and Mom and Dad's affection. They didn't even hang my stocking this year! (Gran, are you hearing this???)

After opening their gifts, they decided to take Grayson to play in the snow, and "oh, I guess we'll take Hank too." We went over to the field behind our house where Dad had been taking me each day to exercise. Since the snow had melted down to about a foot or so, they figured it might be OK for Grayson to play in. Whatever. On the walk over I started thinking about how I could get them to notice ME. Upon arrival, they set me free to run around and I took off like a rocket to go explore while they played out in the snow. I saw a flock of geese and headed straight for them. After scaring the geese I realized I was at the edge of a pond. Then it dawned me, yesterday when I was here I ventured out on the ice and it REALLY got Dad's attention. He was jumping up and down while yelling at me and when I came back, he hugged me and petted me like I was back from the dead. I thought a great way to get their attention again would be to venture out on the ice once more.

Grayson and Dad playing in the snow.

My plan was working perfectly until the ice gave way and I fell into the icy water. I quickly tried to swim and claw my way back on the ice, to no avail. What was worse, my family was nowhere to be seen! There I was, hanging on to the edge of the ice for dear life, while they were in all probability laughing it up with hugs, kisses, and treats in the snow. After 10 or 15 minutes, Dad finally came looking for me, thinking I had "run off for good" since I don't normally run off for that long. When he finally saw me he looked WORRIED. I was pretty pitiful, all wet, shivering, whimpering, and icicles hanging from my whiskers. Dad ran up to the edge of the pond and kept yelling at me to get out of there. And I'm just thinking, "Don't you think I tried that already?!" He yelled at me for about 5 minutes and then seemingly gave up and ran off. That's when mom showed up- without Grayson- sweet! About that time a couple of security guard guys from a nearby office building walked up too. They offered to call 911 and Mom declined. (I bet if Grayson was in this pond they would've called 911!!)

Eventually Dad got back, with some rope, and Mom ran off. (Where are these people going?) The security guards offered to bring in their amphibious ATV that is used for pond maintenance. I later found out that it wouldn't start. So after 30 minutes of hem-hawing around , me in the freezing water, and against the advice of the security guard, Dad decided to come in after me. He turned to the security guard and said,"It's just like the polar bear club, right?" He tied the rope around his waist and handed the end of it to the guard. He waded in and grabbed me. We reached the shore, and although I was thrilled, I'm not sure if Dad appreciated being soaked in icy water, even if it did mean saving the life of his firstborn son. I later learned that Mom had been on the phone with my Aunt Betsy, DVM, to see how to treat a hypothermic dog. Mom just knew this was going to mean another costly trip to the Vet and no college for Grayson. All their fears of a comatose, hypothermic dog were laid to rest when they saw me wagging my tail and pulling on the leash to chase some squirrels. After a hot shower and a nap I was back to my old self.

I would love to be able to show you a picture of me in the pond, but when Mom suggested it, Dad told her, "Go ahead, but you're going to feel bad if you take that picture and this dog dies." Let's just say that didn't give me hope for a successful rescue.




And thus ends my tale. Another eventful Christmas in the Dickerson household. I was saved from the throes of death in the icy waters; truly a Christmas Miracle.

After the rescue.