The dependable daredevil and a former Mrs. Florida celebrated a quarter century together by renewing their vows.
By AMY SCHERZER
Published June 27, 2003
CARROLLWOOD - Angela and Rick Rasmussen began tossing around ideas for celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary more than a year ago.
Big party? Big trip? Big jewelry? Big car?
It had to be something big, didn't it? These days, keeping a marriage going 25 years is a big accomplishment. Not too many of their friends could make the claim.
That's when it hit her.
"I thought, how wonderful it would be if our four children could witness our wedding and be part of it," Angela said.
Rick immediately agreed. They would reaffirm their vows in a traditional Catholic ceremony.
"I know it's a cliche, but like fine wine, our marriage keeps getting better and better, with maturity and life experience," Rick said.
Adds Angela, "Marriage is always a work in progress."
The Rasmussens, both 48, met as freshmen in dental school at the State University of New York in Buffalo. Angela remembers Rick always sat up front.
"He was very competitive," she said. She hesitated to tell him her test results in case she scored higher.
The anatomy lab partners were engaged within four months. They married at the end of sophomore year on May 27, 1978. They had two weeks between final exams and national dental boards to marry and squeeze in a honeymoon.
After post-grad residencies in Birmingham, Ala., they moved to Tampa in 1982. She works as a restorative dentist; he is a periodontist. They practice in adjacent buildings on Fletcher Avenue.
Each describes the other as highly supportive. Rick says Angela has tried all of his many sporting adventures, including offroad and auto racing, snow and waterskiing, scuba and sky diving. Snow skiing is the only one she stuck with.
"I knew when I met Rick he would live life to the fullest, but not on the edge," Angela said. "He is very cautious about equipment and conditions."
For her, Rick's steadfastness shined brightest when their twin boys were born eight weeks prematurely. Later, when she won the title of Mrs. Florida and spent a year traveling the state, he stepped in as Mr. Mom.
The Rev. Austin Mullen agreed to officiate their second wedding at St. Lawrence Catholic Church on May 24. The wedding and mass was one of his final ceremonies before he retired.
The invitation - a wedding photograph from their first-time around - asked three wishes. First, that people share their special occasion. Second, that guests record their thoughts in a memory book. And, third, that people who wanted to give a gift instead donate to the Rasmussen Scholarship Fund at the University of South Florida.
At 14, daughter Kirsten made an enthusiastic wedding consultant and maid of honor. A sophomore at the Academy of the Holy Names, she weighed in on every decision, from designing her lavender satin gown to choosing the flowers and cake. Sharon Phillips, president of the Krewe of Venus, made Kirsten's and Angela's gowns.
The twins, Marc and Matthew, 17, seniors at Jesuit High School, gave away the bride. They escorted their mother down the aisle to a recording of Louis Armstrong singing What a Wonderful World, a favorite of Angela's late father, Ross Thomas Sacco.
Their oldest son, Ricky, 19, a sophomore at Auburn University, was the best man. During the service, the four children lit four tapers from a unity candle, "representing that they came from our union," Angela said.
After the service, the wedding party went to Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club, where the newlyweds performed a swing dance that they practiced for months.
"Rick swung me off my feet, literally," Angela said. "It took me 25 years to convince him to take dance lessons, but now he loves them."
Kirsten and Ricky toasted their parents before the steak and lobster dinner arrived.
Ricky didn't need notes to praise his role model, or to make the guests cry.
"Dad, I've never known a man with more integrity, so hardworking and generous," he said.
Kirsten told her mother: "I hope I will be exactly like you some day." Later she added, "but I wanna do some of the crazy stuff Dad does."
During dessert, Angela surprised Rick with a video of their first 25 years that showed the kids growing up, Angela as Mrs. Florida in 1991 and Rick as Krewe of Venus king in 2001. When the song Born to be Wild came on, the tape showed Rick skydiving, shooting firearms, driving his three Hummers, winning the 1998 Off Road Challenge and working as a deputy on the Hillsborough County reserve SWAT team.
The next day, the couple flew to Arizona to honeymoon at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale. One evening, on top of Camelback Mountain, two waiters served them a candlelit dinner from the only 5-star restaurant in the state. They sipped champagne and ate caviar on white table linens. Fireworks from a nearby baseball game lit up the sky.
Their hearts went kaboom thinking about another 25 years together.
