<Begin Segment 26>

BF: So you went, after you -- I'm going to jump, sort of, way ahead. Now, you retired from counseling in the schools in '88.

AS: That's correct.

BF: And I understand your daughter around that time was having her first child?

AS: Yes, that's right, yeah.

BF: And you went to help?

AS: Right. She was living, she and her husband were living in Montreal. She had just completed her work on a doctorate in psychology, and so I went there, thought it would be two weeks before the baby was going to be born, but she wasn't born until about a month later. [Laughs] Anyway, so yes, so I went there. I was gone a month, and I really enjoyed it because got all, got around Montreal using their public transportation, which is very good, and oh, then they didn't have a car when I went there, but then they got one because one of their friends, one of her husband's friends, begging, trying to sell an old car she had. And so begged them, "You can have it for two hundred dollars," or some low price, and so I did drive that, and I remember our, my husband's -- my husband's, my son-in-law's stepmother saying, when I, after Marilyn had the baby, she asked, "Well, how are you going to take her home?" And I said, "Oh, I'm going to just drive." She said, "That car? Oh," she says, "that's too dangerous. You should take a taxi." I says, "Well, if I have any problems, I can always call a taxi." We made it back, this little old car.

BF: That gets me to thinking about your relationship with your children. You had two children, Marilyn and then...

AS: Seth.

BF: And Seth. And what do they do now?

AS: What do they do? Marilyn is, does work as a psychologist, and she works at Vancouver General Hospital in a, I guess a psychiatric unit, and our son is... I can never understand, because it's computers. But I have to tell you, I have to back up and tell you something interesting about our son, because both my kids were very independent. Anyway, he, after he graduated from high school, he was an honors student, went to a... Wesleyan college in... is it Massachusetts? I can't remember. Anyway, but he dropped out. Of course, this was during the crazy '60s, and he did all kinds of things. And then he came back to Seattle, and then... oh, and then he worked, he learned to do photography by working along with a photographer in New York City, and so he got a job as an assistant photographer for Seattle Magazine, I can't remember the first... and then that magazine folded. But anyway, Seth did marry a very lovely young woman, and he, they -- well, he first, moved to Skagit Valley, and... let's see. And then he built a house, and very, was just really lovely. Did everything except electrical and maybe one other thing, I can't remember. And it was really very lovely, and he liked carpentry, and so he got jobs as a carpenter. Well, then we hit that slump period, been about '73? I think it's when we had the signs when Boeing was, had laid off so many people, last one out of Seattle, turn the lights off. Anyway, so they were affected up there also, and he says, he actually called me and said, "Mom, what do you think I should be doing?" He goes, "I can't make a living with this," and at this time he had a little boy, who was, let's see... Justin must have been about two or three. Anyway, maybe three years old. But he was a little one. And he says, "I've got to do something."

So this would have been in the early '70s, and so I said -- he was a top math student, and he was good in everything. He was in the honors everything. I says, "Well, you probably, you might enjoy getting into this computer field." And how much I know about it, but it was a start. I know it was start, it was seen as a kind of a big thing. And he, my son was not a people's person, so I thought this would be kind of good for him. And he thought that was a good idea, and so he said, "Where, well, I'm willing to come down to Seattle to get the training." I said, "Well, there must be something up, up there," and I said, "Why don't you check out" -- or maybe I checked it out myself, I think I did Skagit Valley College, Community College, and they just had a, it was too basic. Didn't do enough. Well, now, I don't know, on his own, he went up to Western Washington University and talked to whoever was in charge of the computer science program, told him what he wanted to do and how his time was limited because if a job comes up, he has to take the job, therefore he can't do classes. So the professor linked him with one of the graduate students who -- and so they met up by appointment. And I think after the first year, the professor now said, "Oh, listen, if you'll correct my papers, I'll continue the teaching." I guess the young woman had graduated. And so he did, that worked out, but oh, he finished the program. He had taken, he finished his one quarter or semester on the East Coast, and then he would take classes from time to time at the University of Washington, so he had some credits. But he wasn't concerned about getting a degree, but just learning enough about computers so he could get a job. And so then the professor referred him to a job opening, I guess somebody called the professor, and so Seth started working. That was in Bellingham, so the family then left their beautiful little house that my son bought, built, and they moved to Bellingham.

And then from that job he went to a better job in Bellingham and so then they bought a new house. [Laughs] And then their son, who by this time was in, I think the seventh grade, and he was very bright. In fact, I guess somebody at the school, maybe the school psychologist, suggested that he apply for early entrance to, early admissions, whatever they call it, to the University of Washington. And so he did, and he was accepted. And so then they found out, we thought Justin would live with us and we'd get him to school. And the parents have to live in the same city as, and, otherwise they won't take the young person. So they moved down, bought another house, and Justin started, and it was pretty exciting, and then before the quarter was over he knew this really wasn't what he wanted to do. He wanted to have more sort of a social life that goes along with being a student, and I don't know that he referred to his classmates in this program as "nerds," but they were quieter and they were... and he just didn't really feel that close to them. [Laughs] So, but he was gonna stay in until something else got worked out, so he did. He actually finished that year there. But in spring quarter, I guess it was spring quarter that he really decided that he just didn't find this that satisfying, and so, but he wanted to go into a private school, either Lakeside or University Prep, and, but he was the only child, and family's all willing to help. So he called Lakeside, that was his first choice, and they said, "We're all full for next year." And then they said, "Well, why don't you take the test?" I think they had to take a SAT test, and they needed two recommendations, oh, he had to write an essay, anyway, it was just like going to college. And so he had only a week. He said, "You have a week, and then you have to have it in by this such-and-such date, otherwise we can't consider you." He did everything, he did everything that they asked for, and they accepted him. So... I'm wondering, how did I get on this? [Laughs] Did I go off-track? I probably did, I think you asked me about my son, so what is my son doing? That's it. Okay, so let's get back to the computers with, with Seth.

BF: Well, I think it's interesting, though, because it sounds like there's a lot of similarities in personality between your children, your grandchildren, and yourself.

AS: Yes. Yeah, so getting back to our son, so when they came down to Seattle -- that's how I got... okay, they came down to Seattle, so, of course, he had to get a job down here, and he got a pretty good job, and I, he was there for several years. And I guess after... I don't remember what point, but I think it was after Justin completed Lakeside and went off to college, went to Princeton, but anyway, so Seth decided he wanted, the job was, I think, sort of not challenging to him. And so then he did some contract work with Microsoft, and he really enjoyed that stimulating atmosphere, really enjoyed it. And then he did some work with Expedia when Expedia was still part of Microsoft, a division of Microsoft, and he enjoyed that very much. Then Expedia was going to be spun off, and so he had the choice of either going, staying with Expedia, or staying with Microsoft. And he decided to go with Expedia, which I think was a very good choice. And he's still with Expedia and he's doing very well. I say I really don't understand what he does, I'm sure it has something to do with programming and whatever. But, and he loves it and he's doing very well, big, beautiful home in Bridle Trails, and so life has become very good for them. Starting from nothing.

BF: All because of Mom's sound advice, "Why not try computers?" [Laughs] Love that.

AS: Well, I'll tell you, my child has, "He's asking me?" [Laughs]

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.