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| Mother, Father & All of the Anderson Aunts (from left: Cathy, Kim, Pam, Deb, Sandi & Betty) |
On the day that my dad had his pericardial procedure, Bob received a phone call while visiting my dad. It was Parkview Home Health calling about a position that Bob had applied for a while back. They were calling to offer the position to Bob! We were all thrilled! That was a gigantic answer to prayer! I saw an instant transformation in Bob. His confidence suddenly came back & he carried himself much differently.
After his stroke, Bob questioned what God wanted to do with his life. He was called by God to enter the ministry when he was 21 years old. At that time, he was attending Ball State University. He was in his sophomore year, & by that time he had changed his major 3 times! He began as a pre-med student, aiming to become a pediatrician. Then he decided to major in chemistry. After that he changed his major to geology (of all things! Studying rocks!). While a student at Ball State, he became involved in a parachurch organization called The Navigators. They are a very solid organization whose goal is to make disciples who will go out & influence every area of our culture for Jesus Christ. Navs had a profound impact on Bob & really caused him to reevaluate his purpose in life. Through much prayer & seeking God, Bob felt the tug of the Holy Spirit directing him to become a pastor.
During the summer following his sophomore year, God continued to confirm his calling to Bob. He spent some time with his Navs group on a canoe trip in Cadillac, Michigan. The main purpose of that trip was to grow deeper in his relationship with God. While surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation, each person was to spend time alone with God. This trip had a huge impact on Bob. When he got home, he met with my dad who had been mentoring him for a year or so. My dad told him that he couldn’t very well learn how to become a pastor at Ball State, so he needed to find a Bible college to transfer to so that he could be adequately trained to become a pastor. After researching several Christian colleges & universities in Indiana, he decided to attend Fort Wayne Bible College. He graduated in 1984 with a major in Pastoral Ministries & a minor in Greek.
His stroke caused him to reconsider what God’s purpose for him was. As he rehabilitated, we began to see that God was healing him. His speech was a huge problem, & through much speech therapy he got to the point where we believed he could speak publicly again. We thought God was going to have him resume his duties as Senior Pastor at County Line Church of God. As you now know, God was NOT going that direction with Bob’s life. At the time Bob was offered the job with Parkview, he had been out of the ministry for 10 months. By that time, Bob was questioning if he would ever be involved in ministry again. He had applied for some positions in churches but had not heard back from them. A month or so after he applied for the Parkview hospice chaplain position we learned that he was one of three candidates for the job. He then did a more extensive interview before peers of that position. It was several weeks before he received the offer. We later learned that we knew the other two candidates - one was my 2nd cousin!
After my father was released from the hospital, Connie, Kristie & I began meeting at his house on a weekly basis to sort through my mom’s “stuff”. My mom had more stuff than she knew what to do with! She was a super shopper! She found more things on sale at ridiculous prices than anyone I know! Her weakness, though, was that she would see an item at a ridiculously low price & even though she didn’t need it, she would rationalize that someday she could use it. Well, she has what we sisters call “Kmart North”. She has an entire bedroom filled to the ceiling with all kinds of decorative items. She also has two attics filled to the brim, as well as a storage room in the basement chock full of stuff. The basement is known as “Kmart South”. When the flood in the basement occurred, all of her “stuff” from the basement was moved to the garage. That’s “Kmart East”. My dad can finally park in the garage again, but half of the garage is stacked to the ceiling with “stuff” that we have to sort through. As you can see, we have an arduous task ahead of us. My dad keeps threatening us girls that if we don’t take care of all of that stuff, he’s just going to call an auction company to haul it all away & sell it for him. We argue with him that there are heirlooms in all of her stuff, & only we know what is valuable to family & what is just “stuff”. So far he hasn’t called anyone to come & take it all away!
I’ve previously mentioned that my dad has six sisters. Well, these women have really gone above & beyond to help their older brother following the loss of their sister-in-law whom they all loved dearly. Ever since my mom died, they have gone over to my dad’s house one day a week & have worked to get his home in order (he can’t stand clutter). They have scrubbed & sorted, packed & stacked, washed all of his laundry, incorporated the help of their husbands to fix structural problems, weeded all of his flowerbeds, prepared his plants for winter, cleaned out his shed... They have been VERY busy women! They have no idea what their acts of love have meant to my dad. He has a hard time holding back his tears when he talks about his sisters. They have exemplified the true meaning of “family” in all they have done for him & he is overwhelmed by their love. Between all 9 “Anderson Girls”, he has been taken care of. But we realize that all 9 of us cannot replace all that my mother meant to him. She is grievously missed.
On Tuesday, November 8th, our family was again affected by tragedy. Todd’s nephew was driving to visit his grandparents, Richard & Barbara Bussen. He was on Tonkel Road headed north. At some point, his girlfriend Erica Shepard turned onto Tonkel Road in front of Trevor. She didn’t notice that he was behind her, so while cresting a small hill, he pulled beside her to get her attention. Just as she was able to see his car in her side-view mirror, Trevor’s car was struck head-on at over 55 mph by a full-sized van. Trevor’s car was crushed by the impact. Erica ended up in a ditch, & the passenger of the van, 21-year-old Desiare Martin, was ejected through the windshield & killed. Miss Martin was in a wheelchair, which was strapped securely in the van. The impact of colliding vehicles was so forceful that the straps snapped, causing Miss Martin to be ejected. Erica got out of her car to see if she could help the others, & realized for the first time that the car passing her was Trevor’s. As she began to approach his car, it burst into flames.
Barbara was worried when Trevor didn’t show up. When she heard the sirens of rescue vehicles, she & Richard left their house to drive Trevor’s route to see if he was involved in an accident. They came upon the scene & learned that Trevor was in fact involved & that he had perished. Trevor was 18. He was the son of Todd’s brother Trent Bussen, & Trent’s 1st wife Diana Storms.
The sudden stunning loss of someone so young, lively & full of vigor, someone that was such close family to Todd & his kids, was a harsh blow to our whole family. Kristie was able to spend a lot of time with her kids immediately following Trevor’s death. Todd was visibly shaken by Trevor’s death. Alyssa, Alec & Abbi were able to attend his funeral, but Austin was still in Connecticut in sub school & was not given leave to attend. Our hearts grieve for the entire Bussen family - Todd’s parents Richard & Barbara, his brothers Tim, Terry, Ted, Tom, Troy & their families, & mostly for Trent, Diana & their families. Their lives have been devastated & their hearts crushed. Please pray for the Bussen family as they continue to grieve. Pray that God will comfort them & somehow bring them peace in the midst of such tragic loss.
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