One of my siblings is doing a polar plunge to raise funds for Special Olympics. Special O has a fairly good rating for charities but I am not doing a polar plunge; no way, no how. If I had to picture what hell would be like, it would involve jumping into ice cold water and jumping out of airplanes with a parachute. I know my sibling will be fine. I know this because she's done it before. I remember when she was about four years old and I was 12 or 13. We were standing on a dock on Block Lake. My father and four sisters were standing with out backs to the shore looking out at the lake. We had long pants and coats on but there was no ice on the lake. My cousin came running up behind us full speed and pushed her off the dock. Into the water she went. She didn't know how to swim. As I stood there in shock and awe, I could see her blonde curls about 12 inches below the level of the lake. She turned to the right, walked underwater to the edge of the dock, took another right and walked to shore sputtering. I'll never forget the sight of it. Once I could see she was safe I started to react by crying. Some big sister I was! Frozen in fear I was about as useful as a statue. My cousin didn't mean any harm. We didn't hold it against him. He definitely would have been eligible for Special Olympics if it had been available back then. We forgave him immediately of course. We were more careful standing on a dock if we knew he was around. If as a child she could handle that moment with as much poise; she can certainly handle a polar plunge.
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