<Begin Segment 9>

BY: Okay. So let me ask you about your life in Bethesda with your wife and your kids. Did you have any contact or were you involved at all in the Japanese or Asian American community there? Was there an Asian American community there?

DY: Not that I was aware of.

BY: Okay. So what did you do in your spare time? Who did you hang out with and do things with?

DY: No, I didn't hang out with anyone in particular, I just worked and came home.

BY: And what activities, what did you do in your spare time?

DY: I worked, slept, go to work.

BY: So I know that you are a painter. When did you take up painting?

DY: My daughter, Charlotte, was interested in painting. And so she'd get assignments on site, and I felt uncomfortable about her setting up an easel in downtown Bethesda and painting, so I set up a lawn chair and read a book nearby. And she got tired of that, and eventually she set up an easel and set up another easel and said, "Why don't you do painting?" And she walked over to me, handed me a brush, "Here, paint." So the rest is history.

BY: So she is the one who got you started with that?

DY: Yeah.

BY: Okay, that's great. And then so how long did you live in Washington, D.C., and why did you leave?

DY: All my life. My daughter Kay came up with the idea that... my son was, had a disability. So we were taking care of Doug, and she said, "Well, if something happens to you or Mom, you can't take of Doug, how about if you build a granny suite in our backyard and Doug can stay there, and you move out to Seattle?" So that was the game plan. So we found Lakeshore, and we flew out to Lakeshore and Karen moved in temporarily. And so I flew back, sold the house, the granny suite got finished, and we moved out, Doug and I, flew out, and I moved into Lakeshore. So my experience living in Seattle is Lakeshore.

BY: [Laughs] Okay. So I just wanted to ask you, so how do you think your family's experience during the war differs from the typical Japanese American family. Have you ever given any thought to that, about how that experience was different for your family?

DY: Well, obviously we weren't in camp.

[Interruption]

BY: So do you have any grandchildren?

DY: Yes.

BY: So thinking back on your life, do you have any advice or words of wisdom or values that you would like to pass on to your children and grandchildren?

DY: Well, when you're a parent, you "do no harm."

BY: Is there anything else that you would like to share with us? Did you cover all the things on your piece of paper there?

DY: That's my grandfather's name.

BY: Oh, okay. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

DY: Do the best you can.

BY: Sounds like that's what you've done. All right, thank you, David, for your time.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.