Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary
By ALEXANDRA CALDWELL
Article published on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008
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| Photo by Alexandra Caldwell |
| Anne and Dominick Cosentino, 96 and 98, cut the cake at their 80th wedding anniversary party Aug. 3. Their anniversary was Aug. 6. |
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CLEARWATER – After Dominick Cosentino’s mother died at age 45, he found a surrogate mother in Caroline Schlofer.
She mothered him and made the best pineapple upside down cake he’s ever had.
Eventually, he fell in love with Caroline’s daughter, Anne. They were married August 6, 1928. Anne was 16 and Dominick was 18.
This week, Dominick and Anne celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary with dozens of family members and friends.
“My mother thought he was the man for me, and she just dearly loved him right away,” Anne said. “. . . My mother thought it was a good time for Dominick to have a mother, but that was years ago. Things were different then. She encouraged us to get married.”
Anne and Dominick, now 96 and 98, married in Crown Point, Ind. and lived in Berwyn, Ill., with Caroline. Neighbor kids would peek into the back yard to see if they could see diapers hanging on the clothesline, but, no, she wasn’t pregnant when they were married, Anne said. Their first child, Angela, was born more than a year after they were married.
“I was thrilled, but my mother took over,” Anne said. “She raised Angie, our firstborn. Well, she was just a very wonderful, loving mother, and she was so excited to be a grandmother. And I was only 17.”
Their second child, Bernice, was born five years later. The four of them have fond memories of Caroline, with whom they lived until she died when Bernice was about 5 years old.
“I was a very lucky man,” Dominick said. “My mother was a gourmet cook, oh boy, could she make food. And then when I got married, her mother, whom I loved, she was a gourmet cook and she worked in a restaurant. And my wife was a gourmet cook. Oh, you should have seen the dishes she used to make.”
The whole family fondly remembers those meals and the beautiful homemade clothes Anne made for everyone.
Their daughter, Bernice Errick of Orchard Park, N.Y., and their granddaughter, Laurie Holmes of Orlando, recall family-style banquets for every holiday and celebration. Lasagna on Sundays, turkey on Thanksgiving, fish on Christmas Eve, and tons of sausage, bread, fruit, antipasto, sweet potatoes, noodles, stuffing and, of course minced pies, pumpkin pies and lots of wine. All was made from scratch, of course, and Anne always served it on her best china, Holmes said.
Errick remembers New Years Eve celebrations where they’d open the front door to let the new year in and open the back door to shove the old year out. And they’d always greet the new year with a herring and a silver coin in their hands, she said.
Life wasn’t always easy. Angela was born the year the stock market crashed, Holmes said, and her grandfather told her many stories about the Depression. Through it all, family and their Catholic faith kept them together.
“We battle once in a while, which is natural, but we love each other deeply,” Dominick said. “That’s the key to it. I would give my life for her and she would give her life for me. What else can you ask? Oh, we have our ups and downs like everybody.”
“Mostly ups,” Anne added.
Dominick worked as a credit manager, and after Anne raised their children, she worked as a quality insurance auditor for a company that made electrical connectors. They lived in Illinois until they retired in 1974 and moved to their “dream home” in Clearwater where they still live. They have six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
Many people are surprised when their family tell people how long Anne and Dominick have been married, but it seems natural to Holmes.
“It doesn’t surprise me because they complement one another, and we’re a very vocal family,” Holmes said. “We don’t hold anything back. We don’t sugarcoat it, but there’s a lot of love in our family. Family comes first, and that’s what’s most important.”
Anne tells young couples they shouldn’t anticipate their entire marriage will be rosy, but companionship and devotion can keep them together.
“Make your own life,” Anne said, “and you’ll always be happy, even when things won’t be happy.”
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Article published on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008
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