<Begin Segment 20>

GH: And that, when I was around four, four, must've been four and a half or something, after one summer, I guess Mom got fed up. I don't know all the things that went into the final decision, but what happened was we left and went to Seattle. And she got a job as a chambermaid. I think this minister helped to find that position for her, for Mom. And she was a chambermaid and we got two rooms. And Dad got a job in a sawmill in West Seattle.

BF: Oh, so they left the, they left this co-op?

GH: Well, they left the co-op for the winter, anyway.

BF: Oh, I see.

GH: Yeah, I think, I think, generally, that was the picture and that they would be back in the spring. And, so, that was the first time we had money in the winter, 'cause she was, we were living off of her. We had a place to live and she was getting a salary. And Dad was getting his monthly salary. I don't know where he boarded, but he had, he came home on weekends. And he was home for two days and then went to work. And, so most of his salary, great proportion of his salary was in savings. Now that's the difference it made in that, just this half a year, in the winter.

BF: But your family only did that one year?

GH: Yeah, but two things happened to bring us back. One was, Mr. Katsuno came in looking like a guy that lost his whole life. And in some ways he was disappointed that our family left, 'cause I think we were the closest associate of his. And in communications we were, 'cause Mom was a good talker, and she was always interesting to listen to and so on. And in their religious meetings, they each shared their impressions of the week. They took turns sharing that. So each of them learned to express themselves and their life, and encouragement to each other. That was their worship session once a week. Then they'd visit. And there were various other kinds of needs, somebody's sick, somebody's, needs this and that, and they'd help each other. So it's a real living co-op, in that sense, with family independence. So you didn't, everybody had to live one style.

BF: Wasn't it...

GH They had their own families, but they had their sharing and difficulties. He came in -- I remember seeing parts of this, so when she was telling me this I knew which, what visit she's talking about...

[Interruption]

TI: Maybe this a good point to return to the story of Mr. Katsuno's visit back to Seattle...

GH: Yeah, yeah.

TI: ...to your dad's.

GH: He came looking real depressed. The, when they left, they didn't make like, you know, 'We're leaving. We're leaving the co-op. We're throwing the towel in." They just left to, because of various needs. They're gonna try this other winter experience. And they knew that she never was real, she didn't find farming as a joy. They all knew that. But, but the other two members had confronted Mr. Katsuno, saying, "We'd like to leave, also." And so that would've been the end. And the court case wasn't going well, and the economy was hard and, and -- and then the reason why he came in is this question that we'd like to leave. And in talking about it they said, "Well, the only way we would stay is if he came back."

BF: Your father?

GH: Yeah. "If that family came back, we'll give it another shot." So, he came in and spent all night talking. And in the wee morning hours, they must've come to a decision. "There are some things more valuable than economy. Our friendship is more important." And I think they, something of that nature, 'cause I can't see my mother... well that and this other, one other reason that came up. I'm involved in that. So, there was that situation. The thing that promoted this was Mom's concern over the environment and me. I was pilfering. I became friends with the local news boy, and he, you know people buying paper and leaving change there. And I'm buying stuff with some of the change. I'm, I had some candy in my pocket and so on. She said, "Where did you get that?" "Oh, I don't know." I don't know what I said. Didn't sound reasonable, so she came out to check. She did a lot of that sort of thing. Didn't just take word. She came out, looked for facts, and, "Did you take money off of here?" And finally I guess I must've admitted it. And then she realized that there were, this was only the parts that sticking out over the surface. There are other things that she realized that wasn't going as well. And this isn't the sort of place to raise kids. And this is gonna get worse.

BF: And this is in Seattle?

GH: Yeah.

BF: Uh-huh

GH: In, in the '20s, mid '20s. I hadn't started school yet. And, so I think that, that impact she had and this appeal to come back...

BF: Was this sort of in the old Nihonmachi area that you were in Seattle?

GH: No, no it was in Broadway.

BF: Oh.

GH: You know where Pike and Pine comes up and there's a mortuary around there somewhere. And it's in the Pine, Pike area towards Broadway, someplace. There was an apartment house, three floors. We were in the basement floor. And one of the persons that visited us periodically for several years was the family that lived right next to us. And then some others would drop by and visit. And in the neighborhood, we're the only ones that had somebody visiting. Not visiting me, visiting the parents. So they had something that was outgoing in terms of relations, even though they were Japanese and they... in a peculiar way, Dad was very Japanese, but in diet, he didn't like sashimi. When we had tuna, we had sashimi. I liked it. She loved it. But Dad -- she would broil sashimi, I mean tuna for Dad, his plate. [Laughs] And he loved cheese. She never, we never had, I never ate cheese 'til I was married. And when it was, I, I broke in through like macaroni and cheese or something, and slowly became to appreciate it when I was overseas in Beirut -- all other kinds of cheese and so on, and different dishes. So different ways we were more Japanese in some respects through Dad, and more Japanese in other respects through Mom. But, each had their out aspects, and that added enrichment to our lives in terms of other contacts, which made it easier for me to meet these others. And...

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.