This family was first associated with the Yamaokas in the Fall of 1967, when Julia was a sophomore at Franklin High School in Stockton. She discovered that she and Michael Thorn (a senior) had the same desk in their respective classes with a math and science teacher. She began leaving notes for him, and he responded. They were both interested in speech and debate; Julia was assigned as Michael's debate partner. A romance soon developed, and Michael typically drove Julia home after debate practice. She received her first kiss one day in front of the family home on Sierra Nevada St. (In retrospect, Michael wonders exactly what Jean and Don thought when Julia brought home this gangly, acne-laden, smart-ass white kid. But they were always very nice to him.)

They continued a steady relationship through that school year; they even went to the prom! Michael graduated in June 1968 and chose to attend UCLA rather than closer-to-home Cal Berkeley or UC Davis. Distance and ancient forms of communication (there was no email, and long-distance phone calls were very expensive) allowed their relationship to fade. They saw each other only a few times after 1968; the last was at Christina and Dale's wedding in August 1970, although they didn't speak.

Life happened to both--marriages, divorces, children, grandchildren. Michael still thought of this beautiful, brilliant Japanese girl and wondered what direction her life had taken. (For example, whenever he needed a synonym, Julia came to mind: he used the copy of Roget's Thesaurus that Chris gave him for graduation. That book is still on the office bookshelf 56 years later.) With the advent of the internet, he was able to learn that Julia was married and teaching in North Carolina. When he looked years later, he saw that her name had changed again; another few years down the road, it reverted to Brown, leaving him scratching his head...

In September 2015 (just a week after the birth of his granddaughter), Michael lost his second wife Linda to cancer after 32 years together. The following April, he, for no apparent reason, opened an email from classmates.com. (These came often, and he almost always ignored them.) He found that Julia had posted a message almost three years earlier: "Hi, Mike. Remember me?" He posted a reply, and the conversation quickly advanced to direct email, telephone, and Facetime. 

Michael visited Julia--his first-ever trip to North Carolina--on Memorial Day weekend 2016. They found that mutual interest had survived the years. He spent much of his summer with American Airlines, and Julia visited Camarillo in July. After their first in-person meeting (if not even earlier), they both pretty much realized that they were destined to be together.

They were married in a minimalist ceremony (two witnesses and a minister) at Julia's church in Atlantic Beach on September 15, 2016. Julia retired from teaching in November and moved to California to help Michael sell his house and pack up for North Carolina. (His long-time manager at a Santa Barbara software company allowed him to work remotely.) They flew to New Bern on March 5, 2017.  Jessica, the best cat on two coasts, crossed the continent in her carrier beneath the seat.

Michael is extremely happy in North Carolina with the love of his life and rescue cat MauMau. Life is less hectic than in California, and he's now able to understand most of what people say! He hasn't picked up the local accent, though; he still has trouble adding or subtracting syllables: yee-oo = you, far = fire, Joo-yuh = Julia.

Jessica was adopted in 2005 from the Cat's Cradle rescue organization in Ventura, California. Although she loved being a California girl, in 2017 she jumped at the chance to explore new territory on the North Carolina coastal frontier.

A brilliant ambassador for her people, Jessica recruited new ailurophiles from among those who never really thought it possible.