"My wife, Francesca, has been the most amazing person in my life. She has ridden the big waves with me. We have gone through some extremely difficult things and come out stronger. She's stuck with me through all the hell. When I met her, I knew she was brought to me to help me get out of this hell hole. And she did. There was a point where she stood up for the family, saying, 'You've got to get out of here. You've got to go get yourself together. I'm not submitting me or my kids through this.' Fear is a great motivator. I have abandonment issues because I've had one family that disintegrated. I didn't want another one to." "It's pretty meaningful to me(The 'F' tattoo on his hand). Her name is Francesca, obviously there's an F. Well, these are the two loves of my life, for sure (the other being the M for Metallica). These are the two loves of my life. And this one (the F) is on this hand because when I caught on fire, and we were just boyfriend/girlfriend at the time, she helped me recover. She was the nurse. She drove me to the hospitals. She helped scrub the shit off my hand. She wrapped my hand. She washed it. She nursed me. That's its primary meaning. And it's also F for 'Fade To Black', which happened on that hand too. So there's multiple meanings..." "(...)And the person I admire most on this planet, I love, who stood by me through all the hell and took the heat more than I did at times and is still here with me today, my beautiful wife Francesca." - James Hetfield about his wife, Francesca. James Hetfield and argentine Francesca Tomasi started dating in 1992, when she was working in the Metallica's wardrobe department on tour. They got married on August 17, 1997 and renewed their vows in 2004 in the Caribbean. They have three children: Cali (b. June 13, 1998), Castor (b. May 18, 2000), and Marcella (b. January 17, 2002). During an interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Hetfield stated that his wife had helped him to mature and learn to deal with his anger issues more constructively, explaining that after they met, his destructive tendencies embarrassed both of them. He is also sober and has been since undergoing a rehab program in 2002 (documented in the film Some Kind of Monster), maintaining total abstinence from alcohol. In a 2010 interview with So What!, the official magazine of Metallica's fan club, Hetfield stated that he is a "reborn straight edge".