In February 1979 I had never flown internationally before. I was working for Southwest Airlines as a reservation agent. Remember those? This was a time when you had to actually make a call to book a flight. The job was beyond stressful. But working for SWA had incredible benefits.

One of those was a reciprocal agreement to fly on other airlines for next to nothing. So my friend Pam and I booked flights to London for $25 round trip! Stand-by status, of course, but still! It was a dream come true for me.

Today’s Assembled Story is made up of bits and pieces of memories of visiting London for the first time.

If you‘re curious, here are the assembled storytellers in this photo.

• The Evening News, London, Feb. 16, 1979
• Air Canada Boarding Pass to leave DFW
• One pound note
• My own photo of Parliament and Big Ben taken with my beloved Pentax film camera
• Matchbook from Hard Rock Cafe London
• Currency exchange receipt from the Royal Bank of Scotland
• Nestle Dairy Crunch wrapper
• Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum guidebook
• Something I grabbed when we visited Harrods – loved that place!
• The Palace Theatre program for “Annie”