We left the house with all of its original furnishings in place as well as the items that we had brought in to make it habitable during the winter weekends that we spent repairing the roof and walls and making the floor as safe as possible. Heavy antiques and other furnishings that we had acquired during our three-year tour of duty in Italy had been taken from Tirrenia up to Casa Giorgio in several trips and stored in the cantina (cellar) since these items exceeded the 10,000 pounds that the Army paid to ship our household goods to Texas.

Little did we know at the time of our departure that a stowaway was on board the airplane bound for the Stati Uniti (United States). Our unborn baby was along for the ride, and she was already stamped “Made in Italy”. There is something about the water or the wine or a combination thereof that seems to produce children in Bella Italia. So it came to pass that our second daughter, Jane or “Giovanna”, later shortened to “Giove” and sometimes “Juve”, had been conceived before our return to Texas.