<Begin Segment 76>

JA: Moving on now, your sons were very involved with the Boys Club and had diverse friends, and you and your husband have not just remained within a small community. You've gone out and met people and been community bridge builders. With that, your first son to marry, married a Caucasian. What was your feelings when that occurred?

MH: You mean my... oh, my youngest one. My youngest one got married to a hakujin, yes.

JA: What were your personal feelings about that?

MH: It was kind of a surprise and a shock and things, a little feeling like that. But you accept it graciously because she is one of our dearest friends. She grew up with my youngest son at school, high school, elementary school, and then we knew the family. We, as families did a lot together. Oh, like once a week we were all going out to dinner together and thing, that's the family that we did all those type of thing. So we knew the kids and everything else, so I was very happy to have her as one of our daughter-in-laws. Yes.

JA: But in your courtship period it was very uncommon.

MH: It was very uncommon. At that time there was no such intermarriages at all, but as the Niseis, Sanseis came in, they all went... they're a lot of intermarriages in the Sansei group. And I know another couple in Bellevue had the same thing, and she asked me how I felt, so we shared our feelings together and she act, graciously, accepted. She said, "I just love her. She's is a dear little thing." I said, "Yeah, they're all human." After all, they're human, but they're just wonderful kids, so it works out fine.

JA: So it was just the initial transition of thought. You grew up saying, "I'm supposed to marry a Nikkei." It was an expectation.

MH: That's right. That's what you would like them to do.

JA: But, nevertheless, your own activities --

MH: Uh-huh.

JA: -- enabled your sons to be more assimilated.

MH: That's right. That's right. But my niece in Seattle, too, she married a Caucasian, too. So these things... it's happening in all the families now, the third generation.

<End Segment 76> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.