He couldn't help himself.
The Big Blue River was silent as the cold air beckoned adventure. A boy and his dog were able to explore the wooded trails that followed the river bank.
Robert said that he wanted to be like the character in the movie "Huckleberry Finn" when he was a kid.
This feeling of being close to God was not a result of Robert attending church every Sunday. Quite the opposite. His father used to joke that a church key was all that was needed. The little boy found the New Testament in his hands and it shaped his faith.
Robert remembered that someone told him that it was written in red and that it was about Jesus.
Robert, a retired manufacturing engineer from Council Bluffs, Iowa, learned that God was present in his life when he read his Bible and rode to church with his friends.
In 1959 a lonely child couldn't know how close God would be to him and how he would be answered.
The young boy was dressed in a heavy coat to protect against the cold and his warm boots kept pace with his dog as it kicked up snow. A hare's scent was not very strong, and it was running in between tall oak trees.
Suddenly, without warning, his pet raced down the rugged 10-foot embankment that led to the frozen river's edge. Robert said the pup zig-zagged its way to the middle of the river, a distance of about half a block.
I was calling for him. Robert thought back to how his dog fell into the water after drinking a drink.
Tuffy tried to get back onto the ice, but his tiny paws couldn't hold on. Robert took a risk because of his love for Tuffy. He was lying on his stomach. The sound of ice cracking beneath him filled the air as he got closer to his dog.
The school boy shouted a prayer.
Lord, help me get my dog back. Robert recalled how he could see the flailing dog getting weaker and about to go under.
Tuffy disappeared as the young boy lunged forward, a dangerous move that could cause the ice beneath him to break.
I reached under the ice and grabbed him. If I had missed him, it would have been over.
Robert crawled back to the shoreline, the ice snapping with each movement. He thought about how he told his mom he was going for a hike, but he didn't know if he and his pet fell into the river.
I made it to the bank and I was happy. Robert said that Jesus helped him save him because the whole thing caved in as soon as they started up the bank.
Robert believes that the experience was a miracle and that we would have made it back otherwise.
An unforgettable moment when out of love for his dog, a little boy cried for help.
Lucy is a columnist, religion editor and host for the Tri-City Herald. Light Notes is a column about faith-focused stories. She has been working in journalism for more than 30 years.
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