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TI: So eventually you got the passport in the spring.

KK: Yeah.

TI: This is now spring 1939 or 1940?

KK: 1939.

TI: And my sister had promised Pop that she would go back after three years. Well, it was well past three years, or two years or something. So she said she was going to go back to L.A. and show Mom and Dad that she had this healthy girl and everything. So when she finished the school term in June, and we got on the boat, the three of us, and Shiz promptly took to bed. She got seasick the minute we got on the boat. So anyway, there was nobody to watch Peggy then. But a friend of ours was in the same proposition. She had gone a little bit earlier than Shiz, but she also had this one daughter who was a little bit younger than Peggy. And she would promise to go back. So the three of us adults got on the boat with two kids. Well, Beatrice was the baby's name, she screamed and hollered from the beginning to the end. That was a heck of a thing. But at least once a day, Yasuko said, well, she ought to get out and get some fresh air and not stay in the cabin all of that time. So I grabbed her up and carried her around the boat with this screaming baby. [Laughs] That was an experience because she didn't struggle and try to go away, you know. She just screamed and hollered. But Peggy was walking then, so I just kept track of her, and it was very nice.

TI: And meanwhile, your sister was seasick?

KK: Well, she got in bed, and so did the friend. The two of 'em just got sick on the boat. So I felt it was worth it then to pitch in for two people, I did. We got back to L.A., and as soon as we got on land, she was fine.

TI: Well, again, it was fortunate that you were on that trip.

KK: Yeah, I don't know what they would have done.

TI: So you returned to L.A., and then what did you do in Los Angeles?

KK: Oh, I... well, my former boyfriend had gotten married, so no strings anyplace there. And I looked around to see what kind of jobs were available, but there again, I ran into the same thing. People still didn't want Japanese names on their payroll. So Pop said, "Come on back to the store," and I didn't want to go back there. And then several friends had gone to, after graduating from university --

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.