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VY: I'm so grateful that somehow I decided to go back, but that's what got me into history because there were these old eighty year olds who wanted to compile the history of the church. And I was Jo Jo, and they bossed me around, and I helped them. And I got bitten by the bug and still have it.

VY: Because you still go, right?

JT: I went back, and in fact, actually, two years later, or that year, our dad was starting to fail, and this was in, like, 1989. And he wasn't going out, they were playing golf, he was part of the Swinging Samurai group, all those old guys, they'd go out. But he had bursitis, he lost his tendons in his arm, I think from working so hard. So he stopped playing that and he didn't, couldn't drive, garden, and he became kind of a grumpy old man, bitter, you know. And that's when I learned more about his experiences. So I said, well, you know, there are about six guys like that, so I started this group at church called, we didn't have a name. But I said, "Let's bring our brown bags and we'll get together and we'll just sit around and chit-chat. And that was the beginning of our Extending Connections seniors group. And then we moved into the church hall because more and more people came, and pretty soon we're growing to seventeen and then grew up to fifty-four people, seniors, who were all kind of needing socialization and I call it mutual support and encouragement is basically what they needed. Because at that age, you've got this... half of them was on the dresser when they went to bed, the hearing aids, teeth, glasses. That was an old joke, that half of us is on the dresser when we go to bed. That's me now, but anyway... so they got together and we'd get together, we'd exercise for forty-five minutes, tai chi and weights and things. I had someone come do that and then we sang old Japanese, the old favorites. And we've had a speaker or dancers, peer come tap dance, and things like that. And we just had our thirty-first anniversary, but we didn't meet for two years because of the pandemic.

But over the years, most of them knew each other, many of them knew each other because they grew up in Alameda. But people started coming from different places, and they had this sense of ownership, which I think is really important, that concept of ownership. I think it's lacking lately this feeling of ownership in the younger generation because they moved so much and they changed jobs so much and they're so busy. They don't land on one place enough to feel this ownership, which I think really just gave me strength of knowing that no matter what I did, I could still go home and be part of something. But the seniors got to know each other, and I believed in discussion. Of course, you could tell I like to talk, so I would I would have guided discussions. And then they start talking together, feeling, I guess, a sense of trust and mutual... you know, they had mutual common experiences, and so I could throw out a question and they go, "Oh, yeah." It was kind of, for me, it was educational but it was fulfilling to see them light up sometimes or get mad sometimes. We'd talk about things like, "What's your favorite memory?" Those trite things, but also, what would you like to be, how would you like to be remembered or who would you like to speak at your funeral, which is like a no-no. But I felt that it was important to come to terms with our mortality and end of life. And I've been involved in so many of those that, if you don't have a plan when the time comes, because funeral planning -- this is an off-the-wall subject -- but funeral planning can be very difficult if you don't know the wishes of the people. So it kind of made them come to terms with, think about their mortality and actually, their legacy, really, of how they wanted to be remembered. And there's still time to do things to add to that legacy.

VY: Yeah. You know, Judy -- I'm sorry, Jo --

JT: Oh, that's funny that you say that, because I used to be "Nellie's daughter," now I'm, "Judy's sister." That bugs the heck out of me, no. [Laughs]

VY: I'm so sorry.

JT: No, it's okay. It's a joke, standing joke.

VY: But that actually, it's relative to what I'm about to say, and this is kind of my final thought. I don't think I have any more questions right now. But as I'm listening to you, Jo, talk about what you're doing now and you've spent this time with us talking about your family and your mom and dad and all the things that they did for your family and the community and how when you were younger, you always felt like, well, you were your mom's daughter, like people knew who your mom was, but they didn't necessarily recognize you as a person, right?

JT: Uh-huh.

VY: But now you were doing all these things that helps the community in a very similar way, but you've sort of taken, your mom was there helping all kinds of people, and especially immigrants and Issei people who needed, like you were talking about, just filling out forms and all kinds of things. And she spent so much time working with the community and just taking everything in.

JT: With her whole heart. That's what impressed me the most, she did it with her whole heart, and I couldn't understand that. Because we wanted her heart, too, bigger part of her heart, but her heart was with everybody.

VY: Yeah. But I feel like you do the same now, and to a large degree -- and it's interesting how we kind of take what our parents have and it evolves into something that is more us and then we put it back out in the world, and that's what you're doing now.

JT: It's not, I don't want to say recycled, but it carries on. Well, you know, there's that old saying, I just wrote it to someone, "Miles to go and promises to keep," and that reminds me of my mom because she, even though she passed at ninety-eight, she still had miles to go and promises to keep, but I think she passed it on to us. That sounds self... putting ourselves, lifting ourselves up, but I think that that's part of a gift of life, that if you tune in, you can pass it on. And that's how I feel. But I believe in, I really appreciate what you're doing, and Densho's doing, because that's my passion now, is to make sure that these things, not just my family history of me, but that these values and experiences are remembered and carried on and honored is really the word. I think "honor" is an important word because it conveys this importance. And I get carried away starting to talk about this, but if you don't pass it on, well, it's obvious that it just dies. But it's too important to let it go or not honor it, not remember it.

VY: Yeah. You know, as I was learning more about the Buena Vista United Methodist Church, I saw a quote from a church member. And the last part of their quote was, "Our past informs our present and our future," and we feel that way with the work that you do, too. And I can tell that you feel that way as well.

JT: Yeah. It's kind of part of me that, very special part that there's a song, "Pass it On," and it says, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going." And that's how it is with God's love. Once -- oh boy, I'm getting too religious -- but you want to pass it on. And that spark came for a church with two missionary wives. But I think each of us has this same spark, that if we touch it, we can pass it on. It's so... that sounds poetic, and I'm not a poet, I'm just a plain, down home girl. But I love that meaning that it conveys, that each of us has a value to pass on. So I value what you kids are doing. I call you kids because you are, but it's so important.

VY: Yeah. I think that's a wonderful place to conclude today, what do you think? Is there anything else you'd like to add?

JT: No, except to repeat what I said, that you kids, what you are doing is... well, it's like the song says. "I want the world to know, and I want to pass it on." And so I appreciate this opportunity to be here.

VY: I appreciate you joining us tonight, thank you so much.

JT: Oh, you're welcome, thank you.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.