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AI: So, well, I also wanted to ask you, I think when I read your memoir, I saw that in about 1946, about a year after Pat's wedding, that you had a granddaughter who was born.

PB: Oh, yes.

AI: And so Pat came by with her daughter Carolyn and stopped in Chicago, I understand, for a short visit before she went on to California.

PB: Uh-huh, they were going on to California so she dropped the baby off and let me take care of her. She was so tiny that I just pulled the dresser drawer out and put her in the drawer. [Laughs] And she just slept there, she was a very good baby, she never cried at all. And I thought, at least I got to keep her for a little while.

AI: That must have been wonderful, to see your first grandchild.

PB: Yes, and then she visited friends while she was in Chicago, and then she went on to California.

AI: And then, also continuing on during your time in Chicago, in the meanwhile, Jim had been stationed in Japan during his time in the service, and I understand that he was, had to be hospitalized and then was discharged.

PB: Well, he's one of these, opposite of my daughter, he always wrote letters; my daughter's the other way around. And he would kind of more or less make a report every few weeks, what he had been doing in Japan, and he wasn't in the actual fighting or anything, he was stationed in Osaka, and he was doing mostly secretarial work. And he'd tell me about the orphans in the train stations, and he felt so sorry about the orphans that he would get candy bars and things and give it to the children. And he'd always write and tell me all about Japan, how he'd go to, met some people and they'd invite him out for sukiyaki dinner, and he'd say, "Oh, the sukiyaki in Japan was delicious." He says the beef was so delicious, and he said he'd like to stay longer in Japan. I said, "No, you better come home." And then for a while I didn't hear from him, and I began to worry that something happened. And I waited and waited, but I didn't hear from him, and I thought, well, I'd better contact the Red Cross to see if everything was okay. And I was just about to do that, and I was even considering going to Japan myself, because I was quite worried. But then I got a letter that said he contracted lockjaw, and he was in the hospital but he was okay. So I was quite relieved about that, and then he wrote me and said that somebody [interruption] is some relative of yours." So Jim checked it out and found out it was his uncle.

AI: Is that right?

PB: His uncle had gone back to Japan, he was a judo expert. And he had gone back, I guess, to further his education as far as judo goes. And I guess he got caught back there with the war or something, anyhow, he remained there, and so they met and they had quite a gathering.

AI: What a pleasant surprise.

PB: Yes, and Jim found out that -- Tats is his name -- Tats had a little baby at the time, so he told Tats about me and Tats used to go with my sister. So when he heard about me, he sent me some pictures, and I told Jim, "You keep in touch with him now, because you've met him and you know who he is." But somehow they never really kept in touch that much. But he finally did come back from Japan; I didn't want him to enlist again, but he wanted to. He said, "I think I'll stay and enlist for a couple more years." And I said, "Oh, no, don't do that." I was glad he didn't.

AI: So then Jim returned from Japan in 1947 and then did he come and rejoin you in Chicago?

PB: Well, he came to Seattle first, and my sister Emily was living in Seattle at the time. So he stayed with her for a short while, and then he came to Chicago.

<End Segment 56> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.