<Begin Segment 3>

AI: Well, you have some photos of your mother. Want you to tell us who is in this picture.

BS: This is my mother. I don't know how old she was. And I think this is the aunt that she was promised to stay and take care of.

AI: And you have another one here.

BS: And this is my mother, and this is my grandmother, my paternal grandmother, and my paternal... great-grandmother. And this is my father's sister. But, so they were related, second cousins, so they knew each other, even as, she knew them as, even as a young child.

AI: And what was your mother's name?

BS: Masano Sakakiyama was her maiden name.

AI: Here's another one.

BS: And this is my mother. This was before, must have been just before, maybe it was when my father -- my grandfather, this is my grandfather and my grandmother. This must've been, maybe when he came and asked for my mother's hand. And I think this is the aunt that my mother was supposed to take care of. And this is my great-grandfather, who worked as a houseboy in Watsonville, California. And this is my great-grandmother, they're husband and wife. And this is my father's sister and her husband. And the other two boys must be their, their sons.

AI: What a nice picture.

BS: Oh, and another thing is, is my mother... I guess my grandfather came back to the United States and then I guess they had to go through the proper process, papers and things for my mother to come. So they were married by proxy, so then she was able to come. But when she was scheduled to come, they, 'cause they said she had an eye infection, something, and so she was not permitted to come on that date, so she had to wait. And it was while she was waiting that her father died suddenly, unexpectedly. So it was kind of a blessing in disguise that she was able to be with her father. And then he passed away and then she came after that.

AI: Well then, and after she came, then, here's another photo.

BS: This picture is my mother and father and my paternal grandmother and grandfather. So this must've been taken in, must've been in Hood River, Oregon.

AI: And what were their names, your grandparents?

BS: Seki Morita and Kashichi Morita.

AI: So, did you hear very much from your parents about their early life in Hood River?

BS: No, just what I said about... oh, you mean the two of them, when, after they married. Well, they, I know they... oh, when he brought my mother back to Hood River from Seattle, you know, I don't know what kind of a place they stayed, but it must've been a little shack or something and furniture was like orange crates and things like that. And it was kerosene, kerosene lamp. And my mother came in and she says, "Oh, you have kerosene lamps?" Because in Japan they had electricity where she lived, and so he said, "Yeah, it's kerosene lamp." But my mother stuck it out. She said she was determined, she made the choice so she was determined to stay.

AI: And so do you know if your mother and father, were they living together with your father's parents at that time?

BS: At that time... they must've been, oh gee, I don't know. I think, because they must, my grandparents must have had their own place. Oh, because my grandparents, my grandmother was very business-oriented. And they ran a tofuya in Hood River. And, because my oldest sister says she remembers -- she was a child -- going to the tofuya. And I guess it was pretty successful for my grandfather also was fooled by con, con men, and lost money there. But I think they did, yeah, so they did live separately. And then, they must've... I know my dad would go and work at, live on people's, you know, Caucasian people's farmland, and I guess worked for them, because it's like my older siblings, they were named after the owners of the land. Because, even I was, the place I was born, the owner of the land was the, it was Mrs. Ehrck and her name was Betty and that's who I was named after, after her.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.