Empty Seats Don't Go Unfilled to Pisa, Italy

Back in the late 1980’s while Curtis and I were still dating, we were stationed in Italy. Curtis had a 1966 Mustang that we decided to ship back to “the States” when we left the Air Force. The process involved driving the Mustang from our base, Aviano to Pisa where it would be put on a ship.

The trip was only a half day's drive and could have been a simple transfer. We decided to take two cars in order to have our trip back solved. Well with all of those empty seats, I thought, let’s fill them up.

So I invited three of my gorgeous Air Women friends to ride along. My poor fiancé now had four women to manage. We had done very little planning except for the route to take. There was no GPS back then, so we relied on road signs and our broken Italian to navigate.

We were due at the dock early Saturday morning to check in the Mustang and ensure it had a spot on the ship. We left Friday afternoon from the base, packed with my friends, a change of clothes each and wine! You did not travel anywhere in Italy without wine.

It was late by the time we arrived in Pisa so we spent the night sitting out on the open sidewalk next to the cars. We realized we had neglected to bring a wine opener. Being so late by then we had to make due. One of the young ladies insisted she knew how to open wine by pushing the cork into the bottle, she struggled with it for a bit and then suggested that Curtis could do it because he was stronger. He was able to push the cork into the bottle and ended up with Fragalino, a cheap strawberry wine that we had brought multiple bottles of, all over his first set of clothes.

We made it through that night somehow, we did not get arrested and managed some sleep. When the morning came we got the Mustang to the docks in time. We made wonderful memories at the tower and marketo in Pisa, as well as the trip along the way. Curtis had managed to keep us out of too much trouble.

The takeaway for me was that my future husband was an amazingly patient man that would put up with my crazy antics. And it turns out to be true still today.

Happy Honeymooning!

Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the Law of the Lord, and who meditates on it day and night.