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TI: So let's talk about your siblings. You mentioned two sisters who were older...

MS: Yes. My sister Amy was the oldest and she was eight years older, and my sister Kara who was six. And we had another, a sister that died very, when she was very little, between Kara and me. So it was interesting. Amy was quite different from Kara, and I think that, in our lifetime that's the way it went. Kara was always kind of the mediator. She took care of things, she was always able to, when it became evacuation, she was the one that took care of everything. And Kara was this kind of person who was very detail-oriented. And I'm running around not paying any attention. [Laughs]

TI: Well, you were younger.

MS: I was younger, yeah. But my mother was very interesting because we'd sit on the, we had a porch, and we would sit around the porch, and she would talk about... I do remember she was talking about, gee, you know, what she would really like to do is she would like to learn how to fly.

TI: I'm sorry, this is Kara?

MS: No, my mother.

TI: Your mother, wow.

MS: And she'd talk about flying and so forth. And so that she really had, when I think about it, she really did kind of encourage us to, all the dos and don'ts. And what was interesting is when I misbehaved, it was Kara and Amy who disciplined me. They would spank me. My mother never did spank me. [Laughs] I think that she thought that they were a little bit harsh that they would do that.

TI: So tell me a little bit about Amy. You talked about Kara being sort of the mediator...

MS: Amy was a, Amy's a very talented person in her own way. And unfortunately, she should have gone on to college. But at that time, raising a family, and it was not easy. I look back on keeping things going, and Amy married early. She, after high school, she went to Seattle and worked at Furuya, and she met Jim there. And so Jim was a Kibei. And so their lives were a little bit different. And they went to hear... it was a missionary, and they became very religious, and so they followed that. They were very, very good about going to church and doing a lot for the church. And, in fact, Amy used to teach the young children, like kindergarten. And when I look back, she used to make wonderful lesson plans, and she really was able to reach the children. And when she died, amazed to see these young people that came back to remember her, and Jim, too. So they moved to Moses Lake, and they really worked very hard.

TI: I'm curious, you're kind of in this interesting situation where you had these two older sisters separated by six and eight years.

MS: Yes.

TI: And I always wonder about... people talk about these older Nisei, younger Nisei, and maybe the differences that maybe your older siblings faced, how it was maybe a little different for them versus for you. Can you tell me about that?

MS: Well, when I... you know, Kara died before Amy. And so I had to take care of her when she was in Yakima, and we would talk. And she said that, for instance, she had to take care of Kara many times. I remember Amy saying when we were going to school, that she would have to ride the horse to school because of the money and so forth, and they were going to this small school. And I think Amy felt a lot like she didn't have the opportunity that we had. And I remember one time when I was up there, she said she was very angry with me. She said, "You and Kara always thought you were better than me." And I said, "No, that isn't the case." Because Kara and I were very close because we thought alike, and I was interested in all the things she was doing, which was not something that Amy would talk about. And so there was that kind of a divide. And I think Amy must have felt as, being older, the she missed out on things, which was not necessarily true. But I think it was harder for her being the oldest and living in what they call pioneer times. So when we were breaking up her house and going through her things, it was like antiques. It was just all kinds of things that I hadn't seen and so forth. So it's been kind of a revelation to me. But Amy and I are very close because I cared about her and she cared about me. In fact, I lived with Amy at times. And so we were close but in a different way. And Kara and I were not as religious as Amy and Jim were, and that was their lives. And Kara went on to do all these other things, of which I could understand and appreciate, so there was a divide.

TI: Or how about, your older siblings and your relationship to Japan. You mentioned how Amy married a Kibei, so she, did she speak more Japanese than you?

MS: I think she did, and Jim did, too. But he was very well-educated. So he would, they went to Moses Lake in their last years, and he worked there. He was retired, but he became a driver for that, some company, and he drove many of the people that have come in. For instance, they used to train pilots, Japan Airline pilots in Moses Lake, and Jim and Amy became very friendly. And he would read letters and so forth from some of them. And it was interesting that relationship. And Amy and Jim had a very wonderful, warm group of friends in Moses Lake, and once in a while I still hear from them.

TI: Good.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.