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One Year Anniversary
A little more than 40 years ago I met “Hoppy” Hassenbusch. I was introduced to him after he gave the FLOWER TALK during an open DeMolay meeting. He had this 15 minute talk memorized and spoke with such heart. Little did I know that this handsome, poised young man was only 15 years old! I went home with my date for the evening, but that started a friendship. After I began my freshman year in college and he began his senior year of high school, we started dating. It didn’t take long before friendship turned into love and love turned into something that we wanted to share for a lifetime. Hoppy graduated from high school as the valedictorian of his class and with a fiancé in the audience. We were married during the summer between his freshman and sophomore year at Johns Hopkins. A week before the wedding the minister that was to marry us called and said that our marriage would not last and he would not perform the ceremony. We were able to locate another minister and have his dad go with us to the court house to get our marriage license to sign for him (he was 18 at the time and Missouri required parental consent for males 18 and under! I was legal at 19!) We were married in a small family service, had a reception at my parent’s home, a 3-day honeymoon in Kansas City, then loaded up and moved to Baltimore, Maryland.
Our stay in Baltimore lasted 18 years! These years included undergrad, medical school, internship, general surgery residency, a Ph.D, neurosurgery residency, and three children. I worked outside the home until Jack arrived in 1978. We wanted a stable home for our kids because of the hours that Hoppy worked, so I became a “professional mom”. Life was not easy, but it was SO good! When all of his work at Johns Hopkins was done he held the record for the longest residency (and still holds that record). The memories of our many years at Hopkins bring a smile to my heart.
The next stop was the Cleveland Clinic. This is where Sam started his career and our travels around the world. We spent 5 wonderful, snowy years in Cleveland.
Our final move was in the summer of 1993 to Houston. We came from Ohio with snow tires on the van and learned very soon that snow DID NOT occur in this part of Texas! UT MD Anderson Cancer Center opened their doors to us. This small neurosurgery department was to grow and grow. I never thought that we would ever end up using the services at Anderson, but our family was blessed that Sam was able to receive all of his treatments for GBM from his wonderful colleagues and friends. During his 14 ½ years working at Anderson, Sam was able to get his professorship and work on different committees dealing with hospital finance. He was able to take the kids and I along on his travels around the world. It wasn’t until his diagnosis that we were told what an impact he had on the medical community, he never wanted to be more than a GOOD neurosurgeon.
On May 10, 2005 our lives changed forever with the diagnosis of a brain tumor. Sam took on the fight for his life and he did it with such dignity, grace, and faith. He wanted his life to count and leave a legacy for us left here to carry on. He spent time giving other patients his knowledge about being a doctor and a patient. Our miracle did occur—he survived 33 months from the day of his surgery.
Today marks the one year anniversary. I need to let our children know that I thank them from the bottom of my heart for ALL they did for their father and I. Jason gave me the gift of the book his father wrote and he finished. I thank Jason, Amanda, Jack, Brendan, and Shannon for ALL they have done to make sure that I survived this first year. I could not have done it without them! It has been a difficult year with lots of changes for all of us. Sam’s memory and the wonderful life that we had together will always reflect back to me in our children. One day we will be together again and he can fulfill the promise he made on our wedding day of 50 years together.
I still miss you………….Love, Rhonda
