David Brian Thomas (who with a name like that can only owe his heritage to Welsh Wales) carries two photos in his wallet. One shows a baby; the other a gravely sweet 3-year-old -- the age Thomas last saw his son seven years ago.
When I first met Brian Thomas in 1996, he was so angry that his feelings overwhelmed all rationale. A story with a full-page picture of the open wallet had appeared just weeks before in The Independent, a leading British newspaper. The headlines sensationalized: "Lost in Japan -- Will Graham Hajime Takezawa Thomas ever see his father again?" Emotions were riding high.
"In the past I was often overwhelmed by feelings of bewilderment, hurt, fury and revenge towards my wife's family," Thomas admitted last week. "Since acknowledged at the highest judicial level that they schemed and connived to push me out, I feel more reasonable."