The Way I See It

November 14, 1989
In-Laws?

***Miss Paul has requested that her face not be shown here to protect her identity***
On November 12 my dreams for a second Yokohama Marathon were shattered. Miimii and I caught a ride with Art, who misjudged the traffic and we arrived at the race too late to pick up our numbers (we were pre-paid and pre-registered). The Japanese wouldn't let us race. It would have been the perfect follow-up to my performance in the Camp Zama 10-miler, and I knew I'd be far faster than in 1988. I was crushed...then I caught a cold.
I'd based my training in the last three months on the Tour de Okinawa, two weeks away. I’d ridden the mountains countless times, did greuling 40-mile all-out rides on base weekly, and was to the point I could ride J.T. off my wheel at will. I’d won seven of ten races I’d entered at Yokota, including my final 5 kilometer run on October 28 by 2minutes 23seconds. I was very strong, and now I had to prove it in Okinawa. This was the big one.
After Okinawa I'd have little more than a month and I'd be leaving Japan for Fairchild Air Force base, in Spokane, Washington. Miimii and I were not going to marry. It was very hard for us. The emotional strain took its toll on us. My time in Japan had been magical, and my instinct was to take Miimii, stuff her in a suitcase, and take her with me. But I was not in love, and as my boss suggested, if we were destined to marry, a time apart would show us this. We decided to keep in touch.
And then Miimii's grandfather died. At the funeral someone took this of her family.
Left to right: Tomiko Yamato (born June 23, 1943), Miimii, Yukari Yamato(born September 8, 1969), and Katsuo Yamato(born May 19, 1937).