- Yeah, that sounds like a golden retriever, alright.
Tying the knot as the sun sets on the beautiful shores of the Mediterranean and a warm breeze blows in from the sea… It doesn’t get much more romantic than that.
To get to the Mediterranean, though, you have to travel to Europe. And for that, you need a passport.
One Boston couple’s plans for their dream wedding in Italy recently hit an unexpected snag. No, it has nothing to do with the in-laws, expected poor weather, or a sub-standard cake.
It’s just that the couple’s dog ate the groom’s passport — and the wedding is two weeks away.
That’s horrible news for Donato Frattaroli and Magda Mazri. In case you aren’t aware of the current processing times for passport applications, let’s put it this way.
You aren’t getting a new passport in two weeks.
Now, the couple is scrambling to find some loophole in the system to get an emergency passport replacement for Frattaroli. While they’ve had some luck, it’s not at all clear if they can make it in time.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.
A Special Dinner
Frattaroli and Mazri clearly like reaching significant relationship milestones abroad. When they got engaged a few years ago, the Boston couple was in Mexico.
Since then, Frattaroli has carried the visa stamp on his passport.
Now, that stamp is in their dog’s stomach — unless she’s, uh, evacuated it already.
You see, the couple has been planning their wedding ever since their engagement. It has taken years, but everything was finally in order.
The venue, the catering, the guests… Surely, it was going to be perfect.
On August 17, Frattaroli and Mazri went to Boston city hall to acquire their marriage license and letter of intent. To celebrate the occasion, they decided to go grab dinner afterward.
Finally, they got back home for the night. But as they walked in through the door, they realized that Chickie, their golden retriever, had decided to have a special dinner as well.
She was chowing down on Frattaroli’s passport.
A ‘Very Good Dog’ — Usually
Panicked, the couple rushed to pull the vital identification document out of Chickie’s chompers. Initially, they thought they had managed to arrive home just in time to save the passport.
“When you first looked at the passport, it didn’t look like it was super damaged,” Mazri told NBC Boston.
Then, they opened the passport. We can only imagine the panic that ensued.
Basically, Chickie had eaten everything that was of value. She had chewed through the ID page, multiple internal pages — and the Mexican stamp from their engagement trip.
“It was like every important page. Like all of his personal information — completely torn up, his picture page was torn up, the barcode on the back of the passport was torn up,” Mazri explained.
You might now be thinking that they were fools for leaving such an important document where the dog could get to it. Perhaps, but they didn’t really have any reason to believe Chickie would do such a thing.
After all, she’s usually a “very good dog.”
“She’s not a house destroyer,” Mazri said in Chickie’s defense.
Plan B Is Not an Option
House destroyer or not, the fact stands that Frattaroli needs a new passport. The couple’s flight to Italy is next Friday, August 25.
Unfortunately, the U.S. State Department is currently so backed up on passport applications that getting a new passport in two weeks is virtually impossible. The processing times for regular applications currently stand at 10-13 weeks.
By shelling out an extra $60, you can get expedited processing, which takes “only” 7-9 weeks.
Frattaroli and Mazri were determined to make it in time, though. With no appointments available to get a new passport anywhere in New England, they decided to go straight to the top.
The couple wrote to their representatives in the U.S. House and Senate. Frattaroli said that their offices have been extremely communicative, but sadly, there’s little they can do to help.
“Ultimately, it really comes down to the State Department and the passport office,” said Frattaroli.
It’s not completely hopeless, though. Through a small miracle, Frattaroli has managed to book an appointment to request an emergency passport replacement.
However, he is only guaranteed a chance to make his case. Whether he’ll actually get a passport is a different matter altogether.
The two are determined, though. They have planned their dream wedding for years and will fight to the last to make it a reality.
“I’m not allowing myself to even think Plan B. There’s no other option for me,” said Mazri.
“We are going to Italy on Friday, one way or the other.”
We at Oddee certainly hope Frattaroli gets his passport in time. He’d better not leave it in Chickie’s reach again, though.