Densho Digital Repository - Judy Furuichi Interview (Densho ID: ddr-ajah-1-8-15)

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VY: Okay. So then what happened? You started a family?

JF: Yes. Well, we got married, George and I, in 1966. And when we married, he was working in Los Angeles, so I had to leave. I left Alameda, and that was traumatic, leaving our family, my family and friends, going to a place which, to me, was huge. But his job required him to travel back to the Bay Area every three months, so I didn't work because I said, "No, I'm not staying while you're going back home, I'm coming with you." So I was allowed to, it was okay for me to not work, and we came back every three months. So that was kind of nice, we did that for three years until he decided to come back to the Bay Area and start his own business, and yeah, that was coming home.

VY: And when you came back to the Bay Area, did you move back to Alameda or nearby?

JF: We moved to Oakland, we lived in Oakland. We rented for a while, then we were able to buy a house in Oakland and lived there for forty years. But we did move back to Alameda, that's where I do live now, so back home.

VY: And why did you move back to Alameda?

JF: Why? Well, everything was happening for me in Alameda, my parents were still here. My mother, my dad died in 1990. We were still living in Oakland, but my mother was, we were all gone from the house, so Mom was by herself. Then she became ill, for many years she was ill. So we were, my four sisters and I were taking turns every night, coming to stay with her during her night hours when the caregiver left. We would have a caregiver from nine or eight in the morning 'til after dinner, and then we would either come for dinner and then stay though the night, until the caregiver returned in the morning. So we did that for, oh golly, a lot, many years. I can't remember, was it five years or so? So every fourth night I was coming to Alameda, and during that time, my daughter and her family who also lived in Oakland, decided to move to Alameda, they found a home, and she was working here, she's a teacher in Alameda. And so they said, "Mom, what's the most natural thing for you to do?" I said, "Well, to come live near you." So we did move, we did move back home, back home.

VY: Yeah, everything brought you back where you started?

JF: Yes. For all the time that we did live in Alameda, we were -- I mean, in Oakland for the forty years, during my work time I worked in Oakland, but always in Alameda a lot because of my mother.

VY: What was it like working in Oakland all that time? Because you were used to this real close, kind of small town neighborhood, right? And I imagine living in Oakland was a little bit different?

JF: It was different. I loved it, I love Oakland. There's so much that it offers, and so when we bought our home in Oakland, that's where our daughter was born, she was born during that time and went to school in the neighborhood. And so that did become a close community for me, and I worked right there in the school, which was two blocks away from our house. And so, again, it was still that small town feeling, small community feeling. And yeah, but I love living in Oakland.