<Begin Segment 31>

AI: That must have been a very difficult time in your life.

KO: It was. I'm sorry about that. I find out that as I get older, I get more emotional. And that's crazy; you're supposed to get tougher, as you get older. But, that's what happened.

AI: And, your mother is still with you.

KO: Correct.

AI: And how old is she now?

KO: Ninety-eight, and my dad has been gone over fifty years. So our family structure has stayed pretty much the same all that time. And all of the rest of the family are together. And, we're still good family.

AI: Right. So, now your family structure is that, you and your mother still living together, is that right?

KO: That's correct.

AI: You're close here, on this property.

KO: Right.

AI: And your sister is close by with...

KO: Yeah, she's retired, and she's taking care of my mother most, during the daytime, and at night I am at home with her. Yes. It's a good thing that we have a caregiver like my sis to take care of her, because the other option would be to put her in a nursing home or something like that. And I don't know that she would last too long in a situation like that, because she's stated many times that she doesn't want to -- first of all, if she gets real bad, she doesn't want to go to the hospital, she'd just as soon die at home. So, I'm sure the thought of going into a nursing home wasn't too appealing either. So, fortunately we've been able to take care of the situation up 'til now. But, only time will tell what will happen from here.

AI: Well it seems like you took your father's request very seriously, and...

KO: Well one way or another I did, I guess. But I don't know whether it crossed my mind that that was the thing I had to do, but it ended up that I did spend a lifetime taking care of my mother, practically.

AI: Now, you didn't marry, and you don't have children of your own. But did you at one time consider marriage?

KO: Well, I think many times when you're younger, you wished that you could. But as I said, I was rather a shy person, and I did not relate with women too well. I think, I don't know, maybe it was just me. But that's something, something we'll never know.

AI: And you had many family responsibilities already.

KO: Well, I did have a lot. But now they're, my brothers and sister are taking care of themselves. I'm just a figurehead, head of the household. [Laughs]

<End Segment 31> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.