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VY: I was wondering if you'd like to talk a little bit about your uncle, and he keeps coming up, and I was wondering, throughout your life, he seems like he was kind of a father figure.

NH: Exactly. I don't know how you hit that. My dad was on the quiet side, very, very nice man, smart man, but he couldn't relate as a father, really. But my uncle, ten years younger, and like I said, I kind of grew up with him in the same, in Oakland. My uncle was single and he's actually a teenager or something later. And he had this sense of taking care of the family more than my dad. My dad, I think, did, but my uncle really tried to keep the family together. And I remember when I was sick and asthmatic, he was the one that, most of the time, come up and pick me up in Oakland, or take me there to the doctor and then I take the bus home from East Oakland to 73rd, and he'd meet me at the bus stop. He was kind of like the fill in guy. And later, when I started working with him, I could talk personal things with him, and he with me. I don't know why, he was a different type of guy.

VY: It sounds like you had a good connection.

NH: Yes. My dad and my uncle got along because my dad tended to the building and things, my uncle was, he was also a business college grad. He did the administrative part and some of the, he later did some of the planting and everything like that.

VY: Did your uncle have a family?

NH: Yes, he had five children. I'm kind of like one of their, their kids treat me (really well), get along like they're one of them.

VY: So you're still close?

NH: Yes, uh-huh. My uncle passed away a few years ago, but we see our auntie once in a while. Our cousins take care of us.

VY: Did any of your other siblings go into the nursery business?

NH: They probably put their time during the summer and here and there. But one thing about my dad, he encouraged to work out (of his business), like when I was fifteen years old, he got me a job in a supermarket, so I was a produce clerk for a while, I learned that he wanted us to expose (outside), but I knew I always had a job at the nursery. And even when I was (young), would make boxes for two cents or three cents each, little things. Summertime we would go and work (at the nursery), like about three o'clock (p.m.), when I was old enough, my brother and I, he let us drive the truck around the open land to learn how to drive, back up and everything. But my sister worked there and my younger brother, Gerald, my second brother, worked there. My second brother and I, we kind of worked all the time, we were two years apart. It wasn't just me, he'd come along. So I'm closest to my second brother a lot. We share a lot of the experiences I've told you about. But I don't think, nobody even had an idea to work in the nursery. When you work in a nursery as a kid, you see the bottom, you don't see the other part, or you don't have the freedom to say, oh, it's too hot, let's go home, and stuff like that.

VY: Well, let's see. Is there anything else that you would like to share with us today before we conclude today?

NH: I'd just like to say, it's because of you, you guys, and Dana Ogo Shew who brought this up, it brings up a lot, and kind of validates my life, my decisions that I made. I wouldn't have met my wife, for one thing, and then when I think about it, all these little things that happened, even from a kid growing up, it's who I am today because of that. Working in a nursery and all that as a young kid, and going away from it, coming back, and being able to see other professions, compare it. But the main thing is my dad and my uncle, they gave me, even when I was working, they didn't say, did a lot of controlling, you might say, to make my own decisions, do things my way, and I was able do things without even asking them permission. If it wasn't for that, I don't think I would have been in the nursery business. I don't know what I, I would probably end up as the framer, framing carpentry, because I liked that kind of thing, but I didn't know that until later. The crucial part when you were making decisions for what are you going to do in your life, I didn't have this process. A lot of it is, oh, I'm going to get stuck at a desk, I'm going to be stuck in the office and everything. For example, when I chose civil engineering, I wanted to be on the outdoors, but I don't like snakes, that's a big problem. [Laughs] So I was kind of hesitant to go into that profession. But I chose that branch just because I didn't want to be, wearing a tie would be the worst thing for me. Wearing a white shirt would be even worse. [Laughs] But it's funny, until you guys started researching this, our family history, I never thought twice of this. And then I considered myself very lucky, that at crucial points in my life, I was able to adapt to it or make a decision, that thing. I kind of feel sorry for people now that they don't have the freedom to have different type of jobs to see what they like, you don't seem to have that choice. You can't be bouncing around a lot. That's the sad part of it. And I actually thank you guys for bringing this up again. At my age, I'm kind of reflective, you might say, about things I've done. Not too many regrets. (Narr. note: The nursery business helped keep the families together. We had the freedom to take care of family situations while attending to nursery operations. This wasn't a 9 to 5 job.)

VY: That's wonderful, thank you so much, it's been a pleasure.

NH: Yeah, likewise.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 2019 Densho. All Rights Reserved.