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TI: Okay, so I'm going to now kind of shift gears. So your father died...

FH: Yes.

TI: It sounded like for several years --

FH: Well, 1922 he died. November.

TI: And then for a few years you tried to...

FH: So Mother tried for seven years to survive. And finally we lost our farm because we can't even pay the interest of the loan.

TI: And so when you lost the farm, who did you lose it to?

FH: The bank took it over. And so I guess the bank decided that there's no way we're gonna make it. And without a bank, it's not easy. However, there's one thing that I learned. My brother Tom and I, and Tom was a little bit bigger physically than I was. But we were very small, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, we were doing what adult men were doing, kept up with them. Making boxes, plowing, hauling fruit, everything. If we couldn't reach it, we'd get on a box and did it together. But that taught me one thing: if you have a will and you have to do it, you could do it. That's something I learned. But that's what we had to do, and we learned. And so in a way, it seemed like it was difficult, but that was learning, it was school for us. It was a good character building school for us.

TI: How was it for you? So you're the eldest.

FH: Yes.

TI: And the bank says your family can't make a go of it, how did you feel that you had to give up the farm?

FH: Well, we almost lost Mother during this time. She got so sick, I thought she's gonna go for sure. And Abiko's farm, a man that also had tragic in his life, his wife ran off with another man. And he was such a wonderful person, he became our stepfather, Furuhata. And he's from another ken next to Niigata, Nagano-ken where the Olympics were held. And he was such a kind gentleman, father, and he used to be so proud of us. But anyhow, he came and nursed Mother back to health. And then Abiko did all the finding, and he also found an apartment house for us, San Francisco, where we moved, 19'... my gosh, that must have been also December or... it was cold time. November or December of 1929, we moved into San Francisco.

TI: So it was more than just the farm, it was your mother's health, this Mr. Furuhata...

FH: Well, and then when you say how I felt about farm, I didn't know too much about finances and so forth. Mother said we owed eight thousand dollars. Eight thousand dollars for the farm. Today, I could write a check for eight thousand dollars. In those days, it was a life... and so we lost the farm. And I didn't know what to expect, but I guess kind of exciting that you don't have to live in this hovel any longer. So nothing could be worse, so maybe it'd be better life. Although I did enjoy living in Livingston. We used to go fishing, farming, hunting, I had lots of friends.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.