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BY: So just talk a little bit about your mother. What was she like?
DR: Oh, my mom, she was amazing. She was left with five kids and her father, and she really had no work experience, so she cleaned houses for a long time to support us. And then one day she decided she wanted to become a nurse, so she borrowed money from everybody she could borrow money from. And you know what's really nice about this is that before she passed away, she had paid back every penny that she had borrowed. I mean, that's the kind of person she was, and she was an amazing woman. She used to do the New Year's thing every year, and have all the (gochiso, it was incredible). [Narr. note: When our mom passed away, my youngest sister, Kathy Sugiyama, the wife of Al Sugiyama, took over the tradition. When Kathy passed, her daughters, Mari and Alysa, picked up the ball and the tradition continues. It's amazing!]
[Interruption]
BY: Do you know, like, made mochi?
DR: Not mochi, but everything else.
BY: Oshogatsu?
DR: Yeah, Oshogatsu.
BY: And so your mother would do that for your family?
DR: Yeah.
BY: On top of working as a nurse and raising the kids?
DR: And she was the best mom.
BY: That's great. And it sounds like she had a tough time, it was a struggle.
DR: And she never complained. She never complained, it's just amazing.
BY: Now, you mentioned that her father was... so did he and his wife live with your family then for a while?
DR: Well, she passed away before my dad passed away.
BY: Your grandmother.
DR: Yeah. She was, we were just little kids. Because I remember, you know, the Buddhist ceremonies that they have, and they did chanting and they ring the bells and stuff. Us kids would sit during the funeral, we would giggle. And everybody would poke us and say, "Shh." [Laughs]
BY: This was your grandmother's...
DR: My mother's mother.
BY: Funeral.
DR: Yeah.
BY: So then your grandfather lived with your family?
DR: Yeah, he did until he was in his early nineties, I think.
BY: So your mom had a lot of responsibilities then.
DR: She did. Oh, and when my dad died, she didn't know how to drive the car or anything, so I remember one of the neighbors taking her out for driving lessons in the neighborhood. And she learned how to drive and it was great.
<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.