  One day after we moved to Germany, Joe came in the house with a huge smile on his face and an envelope in his hand. He had bought tickets to a true Italian Oprah as well as booked us flights and a 4 star hotel in Naples Italy. I was so excited I could not sleep for days. Then finally the day of the trip arrived and I put on my prettiest outfit, spent hours on my hair (just like in the beginning) and came out looking like a star that fell out of the sky.
We took the flight there, and Joe hates to fly so he was having a few drinks on the plane. Being that I had not slept for days because of the anticipation of the trip I was both physically and emotionally exhausted on the flight, so I closed my eyes and slept the whole way there (a few hours). To my surprise when we arrived, I found Joe drunk off his ass. It seems that his fear of flying took over and forced him to drink himself stupid. Joe was not a serious drinker in general, he might have a beer here or a beer there but was never a 'heavy' drinker.
That night the demons in Joes past revealed themselves and this time with a vengeance. He beat me with the cord from the iron, then left me in Italy with no money, no clothes, and no way home. All I had was the clothes on my back and the 2 German Deutsche marks that I had in my pocket.. 
