Strength, determination, love define their marriage

Jody & Art Johansen

Each time Jody had a contraction, the baby’s heart rate dropped; the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. An emergency C-section delivered Sarah, and Art held her close while Jody recovered from surgery.

The next day the doctors at Cooper said their daughter had a rare combination of heart defects known as tetralogy of Fallot. Blood was flowing from her heart back into her body without receiving oxygen from her lungs, and the new parents had a choice:

Shunts could provide a temporary fix and they could take Sarah home soon. She would have to come back in a couple of years for surgery to repair the hole between her ventricles, and until then, her oxygen levels could remain less than ideal for her body and brain.

Or, Sarah could undergo the newer Norwood procedure — an open-heart surgery — at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It carried more risk, but if successful, she would have enough oxygen for normal development. There would be follow-up visits, and she wouldn’t need another major surgery for many years.

“We soul-searched and we cried,” said Jody.

This was not the first crisis Art and Jody had gone through. And it was the way each had handled the first, then supported each other, that brought them together.

Tragedy at college

In late summer and fall 1982, Art and Jody spent significant time under the same roof, but only tolerated each other for the benefit of someone they both really liked: her housemate and his girlfriend, Carol.

All three were seniors at a small college in upstate New York, where it seemed everyone knew and liked Carol.

“She was very outgoing and kind,” said Art. “She was also driven and really wanted to succeed.”

Jody had only met Carol at the end of the previous semester, but already they were close friends. “We loved hosting parties. We cooked together — we tried all the crazy 1980s diets, like the cabbage diet. We laughed a lot. She was so laid-back, just what you would want in a housemate.”

Art, a frequent houseguest, was usually accompanied by his dog, Josephine, who was often incontinent. Why did Jody always find her surprises? “I would have to yell at Art, ‘Your dog pooped in my apartment again!’ ” she remembered.

Art had planned to spend most of a late-October weekend with Carol because Jody was visiting her parents in Long Island. When he arrived on Sunday, Jody’s car was back. “I didn’t want to hear crap from Jody about the dog, so I kept driving,” he said.

It was a chilly night. The roommates turned on their furnace.

The next morning, Carol’s sister, also a student, found Art at work at the campus bookstore. Neither Carol nor Jody had answered their door that morning, she told him, shaken. There was something wrong with the furnace. They had carbon monoxide poisoning.

Jody woke up in the hospital numb from the waist down, unable to move her legs. Carol did not wake up.

Friendship grows from common ground

Extensive physical therapy enabled her to walk again. She did not think she could handle returning to campus but then learned Carol’s sister was going back. “If she can do it, I can do it, too,” Jody told herself.

Jody needed a new place to live, and so did Art — he got kicked out of his place for violating a dog prohibition. Jody, Art, and Josephine became housemates.

“We now had this common ground. It was there, and we both knew, and there was a silent understanding,” Art said. “You learn a lot about a person when you go through something [tragic] together. Jody is so strong.”

They became friends. Jody dated. In time, Art did, too.

After graduation, she returned to Long Island while Art remained upstate. They stayed in touch with letters, and one sent in spring 1984 had a suggestion: Let’s go back to campus for the Stevie Ray Vaughan concert. By the end of that weekend, they realized their feelings had grown beyond friendship.

“He’s a really good hugger, and his presence is so calming,” said Jody. “I already knew he was one of the good ones.”

They dated long-distance until April 1985, when Jody moved in to his place. Six months later, he was hired by Nebraska Book Co. and had to train there for six months, so she returned home.

“When she came out to Nebraska to visit me, I knew I had her hooked,” Art said.

At the winter holidays, the two devised a prank. But Jody’s mother was so convinced by the fake diamond ring and so brimming with joy that the couple could not bear to tell her it was a joke. Knowing they would eventually marry, they decided they really were engaged. In October 1986, the Catholic boy and Jewish girl were married in a mostly secular ceremony led by a female judge in cowboy boots.

Jody, a legal assistant at Fowler Hirtzel McNulty & Spaulding, and Art, who is now a TSA agent at Philadelphia International, bought their Audubon home the following year. Two Octobers later, at Cooper, he relied on her strength and she on his calm support as they chose a heart procedure for their infant daughter.

Decision made and a promise kept

The couple opted for the then-new surgery. Baby Sarah was taken by ambulance to CHOP, Jody continued her recovery at Cooper, and Art made many trips across the bridge to see them both, and bring Jody’s milk for her daughter. “I was the milkman,” he jokes now. But things were very serious then. “I made a promise to God that if he let me bring this baby home, I would do something in return.”

Sarah enjoys great health. About a year after she was born, the couple went to a neighbor’s party. Another guest was the chief of the Audubon Fire Department. “We could use some help,” he told Art. “You move really quick,” Art told God that night. In 2020, he wrapped up a six-year stint as the fire chief, and continues to be an active volunteer firefighter.

Another big challenge

Jody and Art, now both 60, still crack each other up. They like to see new places, go canoeing in the boat that Art built, and camp with family and friends. While the pandemic limited some options, Sarah was in their bubble and joined them every Sunday for dinner. They enjoyed gardening together and time with their dogs, Riley and Nico, and cats, Trixie and Felix. Jody does tole painting — now that Sarah has her own place, she has made her many things — and her book club through the Free Library of Audubon has moved to Zoom.

In September 2020, their routine was interrupted by unwelcome news and another choice: Jody was diagnosed with breast cancer. What did she want to do?

“I was at work when I got the call, and I went into the bathroom and called Art,” Jody said.

“We’ll get through it,” he told her. “Whatever we need to do, I’m not going to lose you.”

He was as calm as she knew he would be. And her strength and determination left him in awe.

Considering her family history, Jody opted for a double mastectomy. Her recovery from surgery made her glad to be working from home at first. She’s now back at the office and feeling great.

As a first responder, Art was vaccinated in February. Jody received her second vaccine at the end of March. They are looking forward to planning vacations and seeing family and friends.

One day in the not-too-distant future, when Jody isn’t expecting it, Art plans to propose to his wife. “She’s waited 35 years, so it’s going to have to be really special,” he said.