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MN: Now, your own child, Chrisie, at four years old, she contracted an illness. Can you share with us what it was?

TI: Yes. My daughter Chrisie, when she was four years old, she went to the bathroom and came back, and she called to me, and she says, "Mommy, Mommy, I can't get into bed. My legs won't work." And so I knew then that something was very wrong. And so I called Jim and we took her down to the doctor's office, and he put her on the floor and said, "Stand up," and she couldn't stand up. And so he said, "I'm sorry, I think she has infantile paralysis." And in those days, they called it "infantile paralysis" instead of polio. And so he said, "You must take her to General Hospital. All cases must go to General Hospital." So we took her to General Hospital, and then Jim stayed out in the car with Lance, and I went in with Chrisie, but they wouldn't let me touch her after I gave her to them. They put me in a straitjacket, and the straitjacket was made so that you put your hands into a sleeve, and you cross your hands like this, and they tie your hands, they tie the string in back of you so you can't move your hands. And so I couldn't carry Chrisie or anything, I just could stand on the other side of her bed. And they said, "Well, we're going to have to take a blood test." So they said, "We're going to prick her toe." And so they did, and a big bubble of blood came up. And I just went in, I just couldn't stop crying. I didn't cry out loud, but the tears would just roll down. And they had a mask on me, too, and so I couldn't wipe my tears, I couldn't do anything. And so all the tears went down over the mask and fell on the floor. And, oh, it was just something. And then I had to leave her. They said, "You have to leave her here, and then tomorrow you come back, and you will take her to Children's Hospital." So that's what happened.

MN: Why did they put you in a straitjacket?

TI: They didn't want me to get the polio. They didn't know too much about it, so they knew it was a germ, so they didn't want me to, they asked me, do I have any other children. I said, "Yes, I have a baby." And so they said, "Well, we'll have to put you in a straitjacket," so that's what they did.

MN: And then while Chrisie was going through treatment, a nurse came in and asked you to sign a release form one day.

TI: Yeah.

MN: What were they filming?

TI: They were filming -- I thought it was for medical purposes that they were going to film, because they said they were going to film her having the Kenny Treatment, which is putting her in a warm bath and then wrapping hot, warm wet blankets around her body. And so I thought that was for medical purposes they were going to film. I found out that it was for the United Community Chest, or United Way. And so it went on the TV. And here was this little face with pink, hot blankets wrapped around her body, and just perspiration, bubbles of perspiration just streaming down her face. And my mother saw it and she's crying, and my relatives all saw it and they said they cried. And I saw it and I cried. I was never allowed to see the Kenny Treatment room, you know.

MN: Your second son, your second child, Lance, grew up to be a prominent judge.

TI: Yes.

MN: He became very well-known for presiding over the John Keating trial and became very famous worldwide for the O.J. Simpson murder case. How did his fame affect your lives?

TI: Well, I lost my identity. Nobody bothered to find out what my name was, I was just the mother and Jim was the father of Lance Ito. [Laughs] Yeah, it was funny. It still happens to this day.

MN: Now, during the trial, a lot of racist things were said.

TI: Yes.

MN: How did you feel about that?

TI: Well, one of my friends says, said to me, "He's not white, he's not black, he's just right." [Laughs] And so that's why they picked him.

MN: Now, on the flip side, Jay Leno on his show had the "Dancing Itos."

TI: Yes, yes.

MN: What did you think about that?

TI: Well, I thought... well, Jay Leno is Jay Leno. He has to, that's his living. He has to pan everybody.

MN: Were you folks allowed to sit in the courtroom during the trial?

TI: Yes, just once, though. We had to get permission. I mean, Lance had to give us a ticket or something. He had two seats that he could have at any time.

MN: Has it really been difficult for Chrisie to have such a famous brother?

TI: Well, you'll have to ask Chrisie. [Laughs]

<End Segment 29> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.