<Begin Segment 29>

TI: Okay, so let's go to '78 then.

EBA: Okay. 1978 I remarried and it was, by that time -- and again, speaking again of personally -- for me, it was a time where, in spite of all the trauma of those, 1976-'78 years, it was a time when I finally came to grips about feeling comfortable about who I was as a person. And by that time, I had come to the point where I was not going to be what I thought other people thought I should be. And I engaged in my own desires and so forth. And so it was a year of a time of trauma but it was also a time of really coming to grips with myself. And so we, my wife and I each brought three children to our marriage, so we had six children, and it was a, it's been a great, great ride together as a family because we blended as a family. It was a marriage, a relationship like I had never known before in my marriage. And part of that comes from maturity. But all our kids have never referred to each other as stepbrother, stepsister, and they always refer to each other as just brother and sister, and we have this great relationship. And I guess in a sense there's a redeeming of the past in this coming together of our families together. All the grief and brokenness of relationships in the past seem to be redeemed in this new venture here.

TI: How old were the children when, in '78 when you got married?

EBA: Um... my wife's children were younger. They were, when I first met them they were three and four years old, and eight years old. And then my children were ten, twelve and fourteen. So they were a little bit older, so that probably helped in the blending together. And so now, since then they've not all, all but one are married and so we have eight grandchildren. And, which we are very happy about and we have twins on the way so that'll be nine and ten. So it's been great.

TI: Wow.

EBA: Yeah.

TI: Now, how have you shared the history of your life with the Japanese and your parents' life? Have you shared this with the family?

EBA: You know, I have, I went back to seminary again in 19, let's see, 1999, '98 and got a counseling degree. But out of this seminary experience I had to do a lot of writing and a lot of just reflection. And so out of this experience I've been able to write a lot about the, my experience with the internment and growing up, and I've documented or I've written it down and sent these writings to all my kids. And it's been an eye-opener for them, 'cause first of all we never knew, or Dad, "I didn't know he could write like this." And it's been a time of enrichment for them, but for me personally, for them to know because for many years I had this story and these experiences inside of me. And finally I was able to let loose of that and just bask in that whole experience and what a wonderful experience it was, but also a very challenging experience, too. But I've been able to write about those experiences and those stories that are churning, had been churning inside of me and wanting to, wanting to get that story out. I wanted for many years to be able to say, "This is who I am, this is what has shaped me." And so I've been able to do that now and it's been a great experience.

TI: And what kind of reactions have you received from your children after, when they read this?

EBA: Well, they, they are very happy to read these experiences. And first of all, first one thing, that was that they didn't know I could write like that. There's something about the way I write really engages them in the story. And so it's a time when they can ask me questions about my experiences, "What was it like? What did you do?" And to me it's been a cathartic experience.

TI: Now, in these writings, was it more, like in this interview, more a telling of what happened, or was it more of a sharing of the, some of the emotional sides?

EBA: Well, it's a telling of what happened, as I look at them. It's a telling of events, but it's not just a documentary, it's really engaging in using, crafting words that, and sentences that really get to the heart and the emotion behind the documentation. And it's been a healing experience for me to be able to do that. Part of that healing is understanding the, maybe some understanding of the dynamics between my mother and my father, but just understanding and going back and having a better understanding of the events and how they shaped our lives and what an impact that had on our lives.

TI: That's good.

<End Segment 29> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.