The narrator's father met her mother, Anna Avalon, in a local hospital while she was recovering from serious injuries stemming from the disaster that took place during her New York trapeze show. After Anna Avalon narrowly survived a lightning strike and trapeze disaster, the narrator's father, who was a doctor, was called in to examine her injured arm. The narrator's father had previously been a military doctor and is described as an "armchair traveler" who spent the war healing soldiers' arm and leg injuries at an air force training base. He had longed to visit many of the places Anna Avalon had traveled to and experienced. The narrator's father was attracted to Anna's stories about Venice, Rome, and Mexico and found them very intriguing. After learning that she was illiterate, the narrator's father agreed to teach Anna how to read. In exchange, Anna Avalon agreed to tell him more of her adventure stories from around the world, and the two eventually fell in love.