Marvelous Again: How a Guide Dog Gave Adelaida Her Life Back

Photo of Adelaida Ortega and her guide dog Marvel. Courtesy of: Guidedogs.com/blog

Source: Guide Dogs for the Blind
Shared with permission
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Before her first guide dog came into her life, Adelaida Ortega felt like everything in her life had stopped. “I lost my eyesight when I was 45, and with it, the life I knew. The sadness was overwhelming. You start thinking, 'This isn’t my life anymore.' You feel like you have to begin again from nothing, and that’s terrifying,” explains Adelaida. “Getting a guide dog didn’t just help me get around—it gave me my life back.” 

Adelaida says that when she first lost her vision, her family didn’t know what to do. “In my family, no one had ever been visually impaired before, so they did everything for me. They took my son to school, cleaned my house, and handled my errands. They meant well, but they took away my independence. I became frustrated, scared to go outside, and honestly, not myself anymore. My personality changed. I was afraid of the world.”

A friend suggested she get a guide dog, and at first, she resisted. “I thought, 'That’s a lot of work. You have to feed them, exercise them, and take care of them.' But my guide dog didn’t add work to my life—he opened a door.”

“Yes, I had to learn everything again: how to dress myself, how to cook, how to move through the world safely. But with a guide dog by my side, that learning felt possible. A guide dog doesn’t just guide your steps—they guide you back to living.” Today, that guide is Marvel, a Golden Retriever whom Adelaida affectionately calls Marvelous.

Something else happened that she never expected: she met people. Incredible people. “Before this, I had never known anyone who was visually impaired, and I carried the same misconceptions so many others do—that people who are blind don’t do much. That idea disappeared completely when I started teaching ceramics at the Braille Institute. I taught there for nearly 30 years. I learned art all over again. I learned life all over again.”

Now she plays golf, and she traveled the world with the Wounded Warrior golf program. “I’ve played in Scotland and Texas. I’ve met visually impaired lawyers, doctors, teachers, principals, counselors—people doing extraordinary things. And I realized something important: we don’t stay home. We live full, rich, adventurous lives,” Adelaida explains. “That’s something I want people to see.”

Art has always been part of how Adelaida tells her story. As she holds up one of her ceramic pieces, she points out a little raised bus that brings guide dogs to their puppy raisers. “I imagine those puppies learning to play, chewing on bones, being loved, before they go on to school to learn how to guide us. And behind it all are the donors—the people who make this entire journey possible. They are part of the story too, and I include them in my work because they truly change lives,” says Adelaida.

"I use lots of color in my art, even though I can’t see color anymore. That’s what makes it special. I work from memory and feeling. And as a member of the Chumash tribe in Santa Barbara, the rainbow is especially meaningful to me. In our culture, the Rainbow Bridge represents hope and good things to come. I believe that when you come to Guide Dogs for the Blind, everything good begins to show up again,” says Adelaida.

“The support I’ve found here changed everything. Before, I thought I was the only one who felt lost and depressed, who was afraid to take a bus or go to the store alone. But here, I learned I can do those things. I can ride a train. I can fly on an airplane. I can travel on my own.”

Adelaida continues, “I hear stories from friends who go rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding—things I never imagined possible. When you’re at your lowest, it feels like nothing good will ever happen again. But once you get here, you realize how wrong that feeling was. To me, this is the happiest place in the world. Forget Disneyland—this is better,” Adelaida says, laughing.

“Guide Dogs for the Blind gave me my independence back. I was so depressed once that I truly didn’t think I would ever be happy again. And now, here I am, smiling, traveling, creating art, and walking through life with a great dog by my side.”

Adelaida says she can’t thank GDB’s donors enough. “Without you, none of this would exist—the dogs, the training, the beautiful place where we’re cared for, the instructors, the puppy raisers. We owe everything to you. I tell people about GDB wherever I go. I carry cards. I share my story. Because this place doesn’t just train dogs—it rebuilds lives,” Adelaida says emphatically.

“If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be thankful. Thankful for Marvel, my marvelous guide. Thankful for the people. Thankful for the chance to start over—not as the person I used to be, but as someone stronger, happier, and more alive than I ever thought I could be.'

"Guide Dogs for the Blind didn’t just change my path. They gave me my life back.”

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Source: Guide Dogs for the Blind
Original publication date: January 8, 2026
Last updated: January 13, 2026
Shared with permission
Original article link:
https://www.guidedogs.com/blog/marvelous-again-how-a-guide-dog-gave-adelaida-her-life-back