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AI: Well, I had one other question and you must get asked about this a lot. But do people ask you what is your secret to having a long and healthy life, or anything that you do, advice you have for people?

MF: Oh, I don't get that kind of advice. Oh, I don't know. I think best that I could say is to be healthy. Gee, I'm ninety-one and you know, I'm pretty good. I'm diabetic for about thirty years but I do my shots every day, but I'm okay.

AI: Is there any kind of advice or suggestions you would like to pass on to younger people?

MF: [Laughs] Be healthy and be happy and try to get along with people the best you can. I think that's very important. You don't like to be despised by people, say bad things about you. I think you feel bad, too, and I think that person that says that feels bad, too. I never speak ill of anybody, no matter if I don't like them I never say anything. I just keep quiet, just for myself.

AI: Well, we certainly appreciate all the time you've given us, and your thoughts and your sharing your memories. I really appreciate it.

MF: Well, what memories I have is really happy ones, you know? I don't have too many sad things. I just -- only sad thing that I lost my husband so early. Of course we were married fifty, forty-nine years but that's early for me. That was my greatest loss was my husband when he passed on. He was much older than I was but everybody expected that but, but you know, he was ninety-four when he passed on.

AI: So he had a very long life, also.

MF: I had a very happy life. He was very, very good to me. We never fought. He, we both tried to agree and his children are very good to me. They're in Japan but we went to Japan quite often so he could get to see his children and they were very, very good to me. 'Course, I took care of 'em when his mother died for a while and then they were sent to Japan, taken care of by his mother's, mother's sister who never had children, and I think they had a very hard life. But they kinda mentioned it to me privately that they wished his mother was alive to raise them up. But they're so good to me 'cause I took care of them when their mother died for about six months before they went to Japan. They're such nice, nice, Junko is the oldest and she has grandchildren and everything but others are still, they're married but they just have one or two children. Yeah, well, I had a really good happy life, very happy. He was much older but I knew it would happen but I miss him a lot, especially around the holidays. We used to go grocery, Christmas shopping together and, to Southcenter and decide what we wanted to buy for each one of the nieces and nephews and... yeah, I guess you have to say that life goes on.

AI: Well, thank you very much. We really appreciate this time together.

<End Segment 40> - Copyright © 2002 Densho. All Rights Reserved.