<Begin Segment 25>

SS: Edith, who were some of the friends in Minneapolis who sort of helped you get through the war while Harvey was overseas?

EW: Oh, let's see... well, my personal friends? Well, there was Grace Ohama. In fact, her husband and my husband went overseas together. They were in the same group. We're still good friends and our children, we had babies about the same time and they were christened together. And so we're still very close. Her husband passed away a few years ago, but she, we keep in touch with her.

SS: What sort of things would you do together as friends, to sort of pass the time, since you couldn't go out on dates, you were married women waiting for your husbands?

EW: Well, we would have picnics and go out for dinner and things like that.

SS: How much did dinner, or how much did a movie cost back then?

EW: Not much -- that we could afford to go to. I remember Minneapolis had a great -- in fact it's still there -- spaghetti place. In fact, we had a national reunion there a few years ago. And they opened up their restaurant to us, special to the military intelligence servicemen and all the people that went back to that convention, and they treated us very well -- gave us a spaghetti dinner and brought out the wine and whatever. I guess they knew that we had, during the wartime that we had gone there quite often.

SS: How did you support yourself during the war? Was he sending his checks to you? His checks came to you?

EW: Yes, but I worked at Donaldson's department store, and then I worked at the University of Minnesota bookstore.

SS: Was it hard work?

EW: No. I enjoyed it.

SS: What sort of stuff did you do there?

EW: Oh, I was a secretary. I did typing and all of that. And then it was in the engineering bookstore and when the beginning of the semester or whatever, then they'd come in and buy books and supplies, then we were, needed go out and wait on them and do the cashiering and so forth. So it was fun.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 1996 Densho. All Rights Reserved.