<Begin Segment 24>

TI: So for you, it must have been pretty difficult trying to care for two young boys during this time, living in these small shacks and things. How did the boys react to...

BH: It didn't bother them.

TI: So they would just play and do their own thing?

BH: They would just play, uh-huh. And the second one, he just doesn't stay still, so I used to have to tie him, a rope around his... and tie him to the telephone pole so he couldn't wander off, 'cause I couldn't do anything all day if I had to watch him.

TI: So your second one, John, was...

BH: Yes, he was a mischievous one. He was always into trouble.

TI: So you got to the point where you just tied a rope around him so he wouldn't wander away?

BH: Yeah, when I'm doing the washing or doing something when I can't keep my eye on him, I had tied him. At night when his father came home, he'd start running. And of course, end of the rope, and he'd fall. [Laughs] But they thought I was cruel to tie him up, but I said I couldn't do anything else. There was no law in those days. [Laughs]

TI: And so that was John, the second one. What was Paul like?

BH: He was quiet.

TI: And what kind of games would the two boys play?

BH: Nothing. They'd just wander around outside and whatever. There's nothing that they could do except play, between the two of them would play, or then the neighbor's kids would play and join them. There was nothing much going on.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.