Jasper and the Gray Lady

 Jasper and the Gray Lady

Yui Toyama and John Hamilton were from two of the largest farming families in California before the second world war broke out but before that they grew up together, attended the same schools and fell deeply in love. After Japanese bomb's fell on Pearl Harbor all of the Toyama's property was seized forcing Yui and her family to spend the remainder of the war in a Government Interment Camp somewhere in Wyoming. Before joining the Marines and shipping off to war John and Yui were secretly married something they kept from both families but John promise to return to the women he loved and start a new life together. When the terrible news came that John's plane had been shot down over the Philippines with no survivors Yui had nothing left of the man she loved except his memory and the gold wedding band John had placed on her finger. The secret of their marriage remained with Yui for all of her life never telling a soul in honor of her husband but now her yesterdays had turned to tomorrows and in a blink of an eye Yui was in her eighties.

After the war Yui's family had rebuilt what had been taken from them and through hard work and determination the Toyama's farming business thrived into a comfortable and prosperous life for all. Now Yui lived all alone in a town of Menlo Park but even her iron will could not stop time and it's effects on her aging body and declining years. Fiercely independent she refused any help from family members who worried about her being all alone in a big house build on a hill covered with White Oak's and Redwoods but Yui understood her limitations more than anyone else. Yui had good neighbors she could ask for help if needed and the gardeners came once a week not to mention her yoga case and those bingo nights kept her busy most of the time. But the neighborhood had recently seen an increase in crime lately with one of Yui's nearest neighbors the latest victim in a burglary. Yui wasn't afraid having grown up on a farm knowing she could handle a gun with the best of them but it wasn't something she wished to experience but she refused to be a victim.

One afternoon while walking to her car after yoga class one of Yui's friends approached her to show  off their new puppy. It was an adorable little white poodle and it got Yui to thinking it had been years since she owned a dog. Yui decided she would at least look into it so early the next morning she headed straight to the local Animal Shelter to see what was available. Yui was just a little overwhelmed with the sights and the sounds and the smells but then there was that little man who stood behind the counter. He seem to ignore her at first fumbling with papers and whispering up his breath and it appeared he was annoyed with a fellow worker who sat at her desk talking on the phone while twirling her hair with a pencil and laughing? It wasn't until a rather attractive young woman wearing a name tag indicating supervisor had suddenly appeared that the two straightened up immediately pretending to be busy? Yui had hoped the confident young supervisor would be assisting her, however; reluctantly the little man inched toward the counter in a slow shuffle almost dragging his feet and said,  “My name's Jimmy? can I help you”.