When Emily Calandrelli found out she would become the 100th woman to head to space last month, she knew her father’s college ring was coming with her.
The ring, a tangible reminder of her father Brad Calandrelli’s determination to overcome his childhood circumstances, has symbolized for decades the values that have shaped his life and, in turn, her own. Four months ahead of her November trip with the aerospace company Blue Origin, Emily Calandrelli shared a heartfelt video on Instagram explaining her decision to bring the ring and how her father has been her “inspiration to reach higher.”
“I wish I could go back and hug that little boy who came from nothing and tell him we reach the stars,” she captioned her post.
The video, which has received over 237K likes and thousands of comments on Instagram, tells the story of Brad Calandrelli’s college ring, which he bought after he became the first in his family to attend college. The post also shows the tender moment Emily Calandrelli asks him if she can take his ring to space.
Speaking to TODAY.com, Emily Calandrelli says bringing her dad’s college ring to space was a way for her to take her father’s legacy of resilience and determination to a place far beyond anything he could have imagined as a boy.
“I’ve known about his ring since I was a little girl,” Emily Calandrelli adds. “It’s not just part of his story. It’s part of my story, too … His story is so much of the reason why I ended up in the career that I did.”
“When she told me she wanted to take my ring, I cried because I was so happy,” Brad Calandrelli says. “Every time I look at this ring, I think, ‘This has been in space … If I could go back to my 9-year-old self and say, ‘Everything’s going to be OK, and your daughter is going to go to space,’ I probably wouldn’t have believed that, but all the work was worthwhile and paid off.”
Brad Calandrelli was raised by a single mother in 1950s West Virginia, the youngest of four siblings. His family had few resources. No car, no telephone, no home of their own. Often, his family couldn’t even afford cereal for breakfast.
“I decided if I wanted to have things in life, I’d have to work for it,” he recalls. “And so I started working at age 11.”
Eventually, Brad Calandrelli set aside enough money to buy his first car at 18, a milestone that brought newfound freedom and a sense of possibility for his family.
“That, and my college ring, are symbols of everything I worked for,” he explains. “I worked through school and missed out on a lot of the typical experiences, but I was determined. When I graduated, my mom was so proud. It meant so much.”
Emily Calandrelli grew up hearing stories of her father and mother Kim Calandrelli’s childhood poverty and resourcefulness. Those stories became a compass for how she wanted to live her life and instilled in her a deep sense of gratitude and resilience.
“We were always very grateful for what we had because of the stories they told us about growing up,” Emily Calandrelli recalls. “That allowed (me) to be like, ‘Oh, I can be grateful for all of the different things that I have in my life because of my dad and my mom.”
Gratitude and work ethic stayed with Emily Calandrelli throughout tough times, including during her astronaut training.
“I think the greatest life skill that I learned I inherited from my parents is grit and perseverance and resilience from failure, because this was not the first try of going to space,” she says. “Failure is just a temporary roadblock. Learn from it when you can, and when there’s nothing to learn, just move forward as if you haven’t failed. Perseverance is what gets you to your dreams.”
Speaking about his daughter’s achievement, Brad Calandrelli shares his wisdom from his own life:
