<Begin Segment 14>

BY: What were the hardest times for you in camp?

MK: Well, when they were all having those arguments and all that, the "no-no boys" and all that, and everybody was accusing everybody else. It was a stressful time.

BY: Frances, for you, do you remember hard times at all?

MK: Getting old now, so it's all going away. [Laughs]

BY: That's okay.

FN: The thing I remember is we used to have --

MK: Not quite, I know you're...

FN: I know that at that time, we all got coupons or something to buy shoes and things. And I remember growing up that my shoe size changed, so my folks would buy me shoes, but they would have to use their coupons. And I think about that now, that I was taking up all the coupons while they were trying to keep me in shoes, and that's what I remember.

BY: And what were the most enjoyable times for you?

MK: Being near friends, you know, and going to classes. Yeah, mostly an enjoyable time there in camp. I wasn't thinking of having a gun pointing at me or anything, but just took life as it was.

BY: How about you, Frances? What was enjoyable for you as a pretty young child?

FN: I think just playing with my friends and taking piano lessons.

BY: How did you, talk about taking piano lessons. How did that happen?

FN: I have no idea. [Laughs]

BY: I mean, I'm wondering how did a piano get there, you don't know any of that? Do you remember your piano teacher's name?

FN: I'm sure that they had everything they needed, because I remember that they had all kinds of programs that they would have to use drums and things like that. So how they got there, I have no idea.

BY: So was it overall a pleasant experience for you, would you say, or not?

FN: Yes, it was okay for me. I didn't know any difference.

BY: How do you think it was for your parents?

FN: I think it was hard on them. You could imagine at age... well, anywhere from twenty-five to thirty, starting a family. And you have to uproot everything, and you can imagine yourself now, if you had to move and leave all your possessions, it would be hard. And if you only had a week to pack everything, so you know that you have to leave back a lot of things that you cherished and saved for your lifetime.

[Interruption]

MK: They enjoyed what they can, you know, they didn't stress out. I think they took day at a time, you know, and just lived shikata ga nai. [Laughs]

BY: And I think we'll take a break now, but is there anything else you would like to add about either before the war or camp before we take the break? Frances, do you want to go first while Tom is typing that in?

FN: Before the war or after?

BY: Or at camp, yeah. So sort of this whole period of growing up, going to camp, is there anything else that you want to add? Stories or anything else that you want to say?

FN: Well, all I could remember is just doing things my mother... you know like making seashell jewelry. And She took part -- or she knitted a lot, so she tried to show me how to knit. But being young in camp, you just play, is all I remember.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.