My grandmother, Kima Fujioka Hamaoka, came to America as a picture bride from Japan. After many weeks at sea, she landed at Angel Island where she was met by a cousin who was living in the Central Valley. Her cousin informed her that the man my grandmother had come to marry had changed his mind and no longer wanted a bride. My grandmother's cousin offered to let my grandmother stay with them for a bit in Fresno to give her time to decide whether she wanted to stay in America or return to Japan. My grandmother told me she had already said her good-byes to her mother and brothers, expecting never to see them again, so she was resigned to stay in America to make a new life for herself. As luck would have it, my grandmother and her cousin learned of a widower living in Delano who might be looking for another wife. Inquiries were made, and because the man was from the same part of Japan as my grandmother, and because he was not averse to taking himself another wife, they were married. That's how my grandmother met and married my grandfather, Kuhei Hamaoka.