I’ve visited London twice with my parents. I don’t remember much of our trip when I was a little girl although our family albums have snaps of me outside Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. I have a small red London bus on my shelf here. I used to save my pocket money in it during the year and tip it out to buy Christmas gifts for my family every December. It’s empty now.

My second visit to England’s capital city was in my teens. There are fewer photos of that one as Claire and I hated having our photos taken, convinced that our spots would be visible. Given my father’s somewhat shaky hand, the pics were blurry enough to conceal any teenage blemish.

That adventure I remember. We stayed with a cousin of my father’s and were able to spend more time explo...

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