Joseph M. Calandrillo: Sweetness of
Spirit
When
Joseph M. Calandrillo was about 8, his cousin was ill,
and she asked him to run some errands. When he was done,
she rewarded him with a quarter. He went back to the
store and used the quarter to buy her a get-well
card.
It was that gracious spirit that he carried into
adulthood. His wife, Deborah, referred to him as "the
sweetest of husbands."
Mr. Calandrillo, 49, a treaty accountant with
Reinsurance Solutions International, part of Marsh &
McLennan, met his wife-to-be 25 years ago at a restaurant
in Brooklyn, the borough where they both grew up. He told
his family when he got home that she was the one he was
going to marry. She thought he was very nice but did not
immediately leap to the same conclusion. But they went
out the next night and the night after, and then every
week.
"Everyone always said my husband and I had a marriage
you didn't see," she said. "We were always laughing and
having a good time. We were best buddies. Our marriage
was our greatest success."
Mrs. Calandrillo characterized them as a "Green Acres"
couple. She loved the city; he loved the country. They
lived in Brooklyn for a while and then, five years ago,
moved to Hawley, Pa. "I had my turn, so it was his turn,"
Mrs. Calandrillo said. "And I grew to love the
country."
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