Turn the Page

     One of my all-time favorite songs is “Turn the Page” by Bob Seger. You’re probably familiar with the tune; I think most of our readers are Baby Boomers like me. 

     The phrase “turn the page” symbolizes the need to keep moving forward to the next town, show, and a new start, despite the exhaustion and emotional weariness of constantly being away from home and relationships. 

     Okay, that’s deep. But 2025 has brought several new starts to my world.

     Maybe you thought Cathy Roush surely has been to Italy before. Nope – remember, I was the second act around here, coming on board full time when Dad passed in 2010. He went to Italy many times.

     May 2025, I travelled to Italy for my daughter’s wedding.  Her birth was announced in the September 16, 1995, issue of the FML (#2019), Mary Caroline Tarallo. She’s half-Italian, why not get married in Italy?!?

     She has been mentioned another time in these pages, Volume 4226, after she spent a semester studying abroad in Italy. In Florence she stumbled on an impromptu car show in the Piazza del Vecchio and sent me a photo of herself with the caption ‘look Mom, I saw a Ferrari!” It was a 330, and frankly – I was impressed she recognized the older model.

      Since this was only my second trip across the pond and my first ever trip to Italy, I decided to do all the tourist-y things. Flew into Venice, spent a couple days there – gondola ride included. 

 

 

     Next stop Modena and Maranello, where I wanted to pay homage to Enzo Ferrari and went so far as to hunt down his family crypt in San Cataldo cemetery. 

     Funny story here; I speak almost no Italian. That is not a small cemetery. Fortunately, there were some gardeners working about and I just asked “Ferrari?”.  Thank goodness they understood THAT. I had wandered in the opposite direction.

     Ah, Maranello. Shuttle bus tour, Museum pass. I got my picture taken in front of the factory (haven’t we all?). 

     Dinner at Montana Ristorante, where on the table I propped up an old photo from the 1990s of Dad having dinner there with his friend Jim Arnieri, Brenda Vernor (secretary to Enzo Ferrari) and Rory Byrne, Ferrari engineer. Proprietor Maurizio saw the photo and asked ‘how did you get that picture? I know those people’. Pretty cool moment.

 

          l - r Brenda Vernor (secretary to Enzo Ferrari), Gerald Roush, Jim Arnieri, Rory Byrne

     Couple of forgettable days in Cinque Terre … unfortunately I had not shared my intense fear of heights with my travelling companion. This fear also affected tours of the Duomo in Florence and the Colosseum in Rome. I am here to tell you it looks the same from the ground. 

     On to the wedding weekend in Tuscany, near Siena – where, lo and behold, the F50 Legacy Tour had stopped in the piazza for lunch on Thursday. At least 25 of the model including a couple from the U.S. who I recognized. 

     One day in Florence and wrapped up the trip with four days in Rome, including a day trip to Pompeii. 

     Upon my return from Italy, I downsized and moved into a 55+ community. Pickleball and all. 

     November 2025 our happy extended family went to Las Vegas for the Formula One race weekend. Another first for me! Las Vegas AND in-person F1 experience.

     I’m not a gambler but I walked (and walked and walked) through most of the more well-known casinos. When in Rome …

     Over 19,000 steps recorded on my Apple Watch one day, 25,000 the next and I never saw one person I knew outside our group. Reports say over 300,000 fans attended the three-day event and I honestly thought I’d see someone I know!

 

 

     We had Friday passes for practice 3 and qualifying. It was cold and damp that afternoon and evening in the bleachers at turn 17, just before entrance to pit lane. Las Vegas had experienced one of the wettest Novembers on record. It didn’t take many laps for the racing line to dry and the spray behind the cars diminished.

 

 

     Between sessions we took a break for refreshments and watched F1 Academy racing. The fans were every bit as captivated at the action on the track by these female drivers. 

     How exciting it is to watch F1 racing in person and listen to lap-by-lap commentator Bob Varsha during qualifying. I impressed our group by telling them I had met Varsha at an FCA event in 2013, and he had recorded a voicemail on my cell phone that “Cathy can’t take your call because she is in Monaco for the Grand Prix”. 

 

 

     From the window of our accommodations, we could see part of the street track route on Harmon Avenue, but that’s also the downside – watching the race on television at home you get a whole race perspective, not one stretch. 

     It was a tough race for the Ferrari drivers, but I bet you already knew that. One among our group is a McLaren fan, and it was also a tough race for their team. 

     And now the close of 2025 is upon us, and with that a lot of change around the FML.  As you by now have learned, the print edition will be no more, after fifty years. 

     I have been scaling back on my duties and responsibilities over the last year, with the intent of retiring. Yes, I’m that old. Baby Boomers were born from 1946 to 1964. I am closer to the end of that spectrum.

     Like at the FCA Annual Meet in Charlotte in September. Maybe you didn’t recognize me because I wasn’t writing down all the particulars on the cars being displayed. Just enjoying the event. 

     Ferraris have been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember, and I can’t imagine Ferrari not being a part of my life. But I will be more of a spectator rather than active participant. 

     Here I am, on the road again. There I go, turn the page.