<Begin Segment 13>

AI: Now then, a couple of years later, I think in 1948, you said that that's when you got married.

AK: Uh-huh.

AI: And you told a little bit about your husband. And that you...

AK: [Laughs] He was my brother's best friend, and, and older than me. And I was his sister's good friend. And so it was nothing romantic, or, I mean, like, you know. [Laughs] I couldn't tell him all these fancy things about me. I was a brat, He used to say, "You're so spoiled, you used to sit there and have these temper tantrums." [Laughs]

AI: So he knew all about you and you knew all about him. And you decided that...

AK: Uh-huh. And I was spoiled, I was very spoiled. My folks were very... it was easy to act spoiled because they let me act spoiled. And I got my own way, in many ways.

AI: And he knew that ahead of time.

AK: Uh-huh. [Laughs] And, and he always says, "And your sister and mom were such good housekeepers, I just knew you would be. And it didn't turn out that way." [Laughs] So, but, so it was just one of those things.

AI: And I think you mentioned that you moved to Chicago for awhile. Now, can you tell me about your children?

AK: So, Hugo was born in Chicago. He was the oldest son and he was born in Chicago. And my husband loved the Northwest, anyway, and he said, "I am not going to raise a child in Chicago." So then he decided to... just one day he came home at lunchtime, he says, "We're moving." And I said, "What do you mean we're moving?" He says, "We're going to move to Seattle." I said, "Oh." [Laughs] We didn't discuss it, we just decided we're gonna move.

AI: And so when was that? When did you move back to Seattle?

AK: And so that was in 19... let's see, Hugo was born in 1950, and we moved in -- I think Hugo was like, six months old.

AI: So you had a six-month-old, 1950, you moved back to Seattle.

AK: Drove all the way back. But... and I'm easygoing, as you know. [Laughs] So it wasn't anything stressful or anything.

AI: And where did you live when you moved back to Seattle?

AK: Oh, then we came back and stayed with my folks.

AI: And what was your husband doing at that time?

AK: And then he went to Boeing, to... he was a machinist, an electrician, and they didn't hire Japanese in the electrical union in Seattle. And so then he went to work as a machinist at Boeing and stayed there for thirty-some years.

AI: So tell me then, after Hugo came...

AK: Then Ruthann, and then, boom, boom, boom, boom...[Laughs]

AI: So it was Ruthann, then...

AK: Ruthann, and then Guy, and Rollie, and Paul, and Marie.

AI: So you were very busy with all your kids.

AK: I loved kids and I wanted a lotta kids. And Junx says, "Yeah, we'll have lots of kids." But after six, he said, "We're not having any more!" [Laughs]

AI: So was that pretty much your full-time work, was being a mom? Taking care of your kids.

AK: Yeah. And it wasn't hard. I enjoyed every bit of it. 'Course, I didn't work, either.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.