<Begin Segment 27>

TI: You met in Tokyo, Lucius', you said brother?

MH: Sister, sister and brother-in-law, yes.

TI: When was the first time you met Lucius' mother, I think? Because his father...

MH: We came home after that tour ended, so that was the first time, yes. But we, well, of course, we had announced to his sister and brother-in-law that we were getting married, and she was concerned about it. They were Catholics, and she was also concerned about Caucasian women who got divorced all the time, and also I wasn't a Catholic.

TI: Now, did this come out before you were married, was there any discussion?

MH: Oh, yes, this was when we went to the house to tell them and she went off into a room with Lucius, and her husband told me of these fears that she had about the marriage.

TI: Oh, that's interesting. So Lucius and his sister went to another room to talk, and the husband was with you, and he was explaining what was going on in the other room?

MH: Yes.

TI: How did that make you feel?

MH: Not too happy, yes. But she did, she did everything for -- I mean, we didn't have a regular reception. We were married in this beautiful church, but we only, as a reception it was only the members of the wedding party. And she had it in her house, and she'd gotten a great big cake and a sword for me to cut it with, and made beautiful arrangements. She was always very good to me. And later, I think she became fond of me.

TI: Well, it's interesting how direct they were. In this kind of situation, it wouldn't have surprised me if no one had, that they felt this way, but no one would have told you really.

MH: Yes, yes.

TI: But for Lucius' brother-in-law to be so direct to say that, "They're in the room talking about you," is very direct. That's interesting. There was another story... oh, you told me yesterday about, was it another family member in Japan? It was, I think, after you were legally married but before your religious ceremony.

MH: Yes, my father's brother, my uncle and his wife, he was also in the Navy, and he, they were retired, but they were taking this trip on a Navy transport, and docked at Yokohama, I guess. And they called, and this was right after the legal ceremony that day. And so we drove down there to visit them on the ship, and told them that we'd gotten legally married that day. And my aunt Ann said, "Well, are you living together?" And we said, "Oh, no, not until the religious ceremony." "Why? That's so foolish of you. You ought to be living together." [Laughs]

TI: Oh, that's a good story.

<End Segment 27> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.