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Love: Barbara Reynolds Caldwell & Andrew Stanhope

May 16, 2015, in Bryn Mawr

Barbara Reynolds Caldwell and Andrew Stanhope. (CHRISTINA MUDRICK / Pictures by Todd Photography)
Barbara Reynolds Caldwell and Andrew Stanhope. (CHRISTINA MUDRICK / Pictures by Todd Photography)Read more

Hello there

In November 2012, Barbara left her home in Mount Laurel for the Iron Hill Brewery in Maple Shade, hoping the man she'd met two weeks prior on SeniorPeopleMeet.com was as intelligent and funny in person as he'd been through e-mail and phone calls - that is, if he showed up.

Andy, who was driving from his place in Freehold, had promised her he'd be there. And why wouldn't he? She was charming, talkative, and smart.

Barbara's lingering doubts were finished before their first drinks. A psychiatric nurse-practitioner, she's good at quickly figuring people out. "He is so friendly, and he didn't have an agenda, and I really liked that," said Barbara. "And he has the most beautiful black curls of any guy I've ever dated."

Andy, a software architect and process engineer at Public Service Electric & Gas Company (PSE&G) in Newark, knew Barbara had worked as a therapist and also taught nursing students at Villanova and elsewhere. He knew she was very good with people, but was not expecting this.

"Barbara is so talkative and outgoing that, all of a sudden, everybody in the bar knows this is our first date!" he said. Those seated nearby wished them luck, and someone snapped a picture of them, with wide smiles and her arms around his neck.

Andy loved it from the start. "I'm friendly, but I can sometimes be quiet," he said. "She is so effusive and charming, and will never be at a loss for words."

Each knew right away they wanted to see the other again.

Barbara, who is now 70, had been married for 25 years to Don before they amicably divorced. They have sons Pearson, 27, and Fletcher, 38, who is married to Beth and has a 6-year-old son, Greydon. Her second marriage lasted seven years.

Andy, now 68, was married to Nancy until they divorced in 1988. They have a daughter Kate, 28.

Barbara and Andy had dated others, but had never found a match this good.

In March 2014, Barbara visited friends in Greece while Andy stayed at her place with Winston, her orange tiger cat, which adores him. On the flight over, something painful happened behind her knee. A doctor on one of the islands worried she had a blood clot. "I called Andy. I was pretty worried."

She could hear the concern in his voice as he firmly but calmly told her she had to be on the first ferry back to the Greek mainland, so she could be thoroughly examined at a hospital. Just talking to him made her feel better. And then, the hospital doctors told her a Baker's cyst - a complication of her arthritis - had ruptured. She was going to be fine.

Barbara says she learned three things on that trip: Andy really loves her. She really loves Andy. And she should never wear something as fitted to the legs as skinny jeans when flying.

That Memorial Day weekend, Barbara was Andy's date to his 45th college reunion at Brown University. "We had such a good time there, and we had had such a wonderful time visiting Germany together the year before," he said. "We get along on these big adventures, in addition to enjoying each other's company immensely under normal circumstances," he said. "To me, that just reinforced that we should be together."

How does forever sound?

In September, Andy took Barbara to Cafe Madison for her birthday. The next day, they would leave for Cape Cod, where Andy had spent much time when growing up in Massachusetts. They could talk about their trip, he told her.

"Wow, look at all those roses," Barbara said as they walked in. She was delighted to discover they were hers.

"Don't you think we should get married?" Andy asked.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Barbara agreed.

Since arthritis has changed the shape of her ring finger, Andy couldn't buy a ring without her. After a day on the Cape, he took her to Shreve, Crump & Low in Chestnut Hill, Mass., which had always been his mother's favorite jewelry store.

Andy selected an emerald ring. "I knew it was the equivalent of a down payment on a house," Barbara said. Beautiful, she thought, but a bit much. "Are you sure you want to get this one?" she asked Andy. He was sure - until the jeweler brought him the sales slip.

"His face turned absolutely white," she said.

Andy told the jeweler, "You know, this is a little over our price range."

The jeweler graciously brought them to a different case, and Andy chose a sapphire flanked by diamonds.

"It's exquisite," Barbara said. Much more her style, and much less a burden on their budget, which needed to accommodate a wedding and the construction of their new home in Medford.

It was so them

The couple married at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian. The harpist's beautiful music, the purple and peach vintage-style flowers, and the chapel architecture combined to create an atmosphere of elegance and grace like none Andy had ever experienced.

Barbara was walked down the aisle by the couple's friend Gerhard - the husband of her late, dear friend Renate, and the man she and Andy had visited in Germany.

Her sons and daughter-in-law did readings from Corinthians, Kahlil Gibran, and Shakespeare. Her grandson held the ring pillow during photos, but decided to skip the trip down the aisle.

For the reception, Barbara, Andy, and their 45 guests traveled to the Moorestown Field Club, where Andy plays golf.

The way Andy makes Barbara feel makes her wonder whether she was ever really in love before.

Andy puts it like this: "You wonder if you will ever find the person that can be your spouse and your best friend, who is the happiest, the funniest, and the most wonderful person all together, and that is what we have, for each of us, with each other."

Awestruck

Andy and Barbara hadn't seen each other for about three hours before the ceremony. He watched her walk up the aisle, and then they took each other's hands. "You look beautiful," he told her. "I'm so happy!" she told him. Andy's last thought before the big event began: "This is so wonderful, and I'm so blessed to be marrying Barbara."

Barbara said she had never experienced feelings like those she had when they exchanged their vows. "It was ethereal," she said. "I hadn't expected to feel that way. I hadn't in the past. But it was really like nobody else was there, just us two."

Discretionary spending

A bargain: Robertson's Flowers created the vintage look Barbara wanted at church and reception. "It looked as though you walked out into a garden," she said, "and they did not charge me what I expected."

The splurge: Pictures by Todd cost more than the couple originally budgeted, but they also got a lot more than they expected. "It was well worth it," Andy said.

The getaway

Building their home is their current focus, but a week in St. Martin is planned in the fall.

Love: BEHIND THE SCENES

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Officiant: The Rev. Rachel Pederson of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church,

Bryn Mawr.

Venues: Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church; Moorestown Field Club, Moorestown, N.J.

Catering: Robert Minniti,

chef owner/operator of

Bacio Catering & Marketplace, Moorestown.

Photography: Photographer Christina Mudrick of Pictures by Todd, Bryn Mawr.

Flowers: Robertson's Flowers of Chestnut Hill and

Bryn Mawr.

Dress and veil: BHLDN

from Anthropologie.

Groom's attire: Jos. A. Bank, Moorestown, N.J.

Music: Ceremony - Philadelphia-area harpist Maryanne Meyer. Reception - Bride's sons Fletcher and Pearson via iPhone.

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