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TI: Now, after Minidoka, tell me what, where your family, where they went after Minidoka.

MO: Well, see, we came out of camp and then my parents stayed at the Shimizus' hotel on, what is that, Seventh and, close to Seventh and Jackson. What was the name of that hotel? Seventh and Jackson, Suzie Shimizu's parents had a hotel on, and they stayed there. I think I stayed one first night there, and then I got a schoolgirl job. And then my parents found a, where did my dad find a place? They eventually bought this house on Alaska Street and they lived there for many years, on, right up by the veterans' hospital, across the street from the veterans' hospital. But I was doing --

TI: But going back to your job, how did you get this job so quickly? So you're only there one night.

MO: I looked in the newspaper. [Laughs] Just took one that I thought was, I was trying to get back to where I could go to back to Lincoln High School, and I found an address that was close to Lincoln High School, and I called and I went to get the job. Well, it was, the street was a boundary line between Lincoln High School and Roosevelt High School, so I ended up going to Roosevelt High School.

TI: So that's interesting, so you, you're looking for a job, but you wanted to go back to high school, the same high school, or same neighborhood --

MO: As my brothers.

TI: -- and you, so you just kind of, that's how you chose, by the address.

MO: I chose that area.

TI: And so tell me about the family that you, you went to go work for.

MO: Well actually, the one that I worked for that was good was when I was in high school, the Kolb family. They had four children, and a Catholic family that were really good to me. And we first lived in Green Lake, and then they moved, went out to Des Moines, so I moved with them. I went to Des Moines, Highline High School.

TI: Wow, so that's pretty far out.

MO: It was quite a bit south.

TI: And your parents were okay with that, for you to go?

MO: Well, they liked the Coles, and whatever I did I was working, and I went, they knew I was in good, with good people.

TI: And describe what you did for the family?

MO: When I worked for the Coles?

TI: Yeah, what was your job?

MO: Well, they treated me, actually, like another child, but I did housework and yard work and took care of the kids and, which Lee laughs and says, "Yeah, we took care of you," the boys, the three boys and a girl. But he says, "Oh, we used to play tricks on you all the time." I says, "I know." [Laughs]

TI: So how much older were you than the children?

MO: Let's see, if I was fifteen going on sixteen, and Lee was eight, I think, when I first went. Eight, seven, eight, seven, six, or five. Peter was five, and Karen was one or two, I think.

TI: And so your job was to sort of help take care of the kids?

MO: Yeah, I did some laundry and housecleaning and watched the kids more or less.

TI: How much did the parents know about what you had just gone through? Not, being put in camp, the death of your brother, all that, how much did they know?

MO: How much do my parents know?

TI: No, how much did the Cole, the Cole family, how much did they know about your background?

MO: Oh, the family, I think they knew pretty much basically. Yeah, and they were good with my folks. My folks liked them a lot because we felt like, kind of like family anyway. They were awfully good people, the Catholic family, Frank and Charlotte. They were, they were, gosh, they treated me just like one of their children, actually.

TI: And when they were with you, did they ever ask you about, anything about your life or how you were doing and things like that?

MO: You mean after I left, or you mean during the time I was with them?

TI: Yeah, during the time you were there. I was just curious.

MO: I guess they pretty much felt like they knew that my family were good people and all. Yeah. They respected each other very much.

TI: Now, when you went to school at Roosevelt first, so how did the students treat you? You mentioned, yeah, how did the students treat you at Roosevelt?

MO: Well, I think they were fine. It was just that one blond guy that was, that showed any animosity, but I made some good friends over there. And of course I was still working, so I didn't get to see my friends too much, but Anna Versbrisky was one of my best friends, a Russian girl, and then Mary, she was English, she was real good. And then, since I was working most of the time, I didn't have any time to go out and play much.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.