▲ Daddy and I are faces in the crowd about to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to attend Easter service at the Vatican in Rome.

I’ve blown this particular image up here, because I believe it’s the sharpest and best photograph of all those that Mama made during our three postwar years in Europe. And remember, amid that bustling crowd, she was hand-holding an old Argus film camera without auto-exposure or auto-focus. It’s pretty remarkable, actually.

▲ Everybody recognizes the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, but few have a photo like this to remind them of a childhood visit on a very uncrowded day. Mama did a great job of using me as a “straight edge” to point out the medieval tower’s notable slope.

Clearly, I wasn’t happy about staring into the sun, which Mama always made me do. But at least I stood still long enough not to mess up her photo, as happened in a few other places where she attempted similar images. I’m very glad now that I behaved in that moment, because I really do love this photo!

▲ As a little girl, this was my first visit to Pompeii, but I told my parents, in total seriousness, that I had been there before. It all was familiar. I had walked those same streets long before, I told them.

That visit launched a fascination with Ancient Rome that ultimately led to my three first-century Roman novels and remains unchanged to this day.