<Begin Segment 25>

YB: I didn't want to marry, get remarried. And I was, I finally got into a dead end, I had no way out. But my very dear friend that I knew, a Caucasian friend, remarried, and had married George then. And that's how I happened to know George, 'cause she knew me so well that she talked about me all the time, and he knew me better than I knew him. And I thought well, since she thought so highly of him, that I couldn't go wrong marrying him, and he's been one wonderful person to me; I was very fortunate. We were married for twenty years.

TL: You had just mentioned a few minutes ago that you had gotten into a dead end, and I was wondering what you were referring to? Do you mean living in the apartment by yourself, and...

YB: Well, financially, 'cause I was making ends meet. And my younger brother -- although I was raised apart from my family, my birth family, they were always in touch with me; my brothers were always there helping me. And my brother next to me just followed me around like a shadow every chance he had, not knowing I was his sister. And that shows that blood is thicker than water, as the Japanese would say. And he would follow me to school, sit with me, and watch me do my work. And if I crocheted, he even learned to crochet. [Laughs] But that's how close he was, and he died at fifty-seven with cancer of the throat. So when I get this tickly throat, I am constantly checking. But, I don't seem to have any signs of cancer so I guess I'm okay. Then I have another younger brother that has turned eighty now, and is very active. That is, he keeps himself active. His wife died recently; he was married to a very lovely Caucasian lady, and no children. But he lectures on Zen and Buddhist philosophy, not for money. He says, "I enjoy doing it," and he's got about six coming, two or three times a week. And I says, "You're not charging 'em and putting so much time?" He says, "Better still, they bring me my dinner." So they're doing, he's doing okay and I talk to him about once a month. And there's four of us left now, two of us girls and two boys.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.