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DG: Can you tell me more about how the community of Bainbridge Island... what the community was like when you returned?

MW: Well, I returned later, so, you know, everything had fallen into place already as far as the other people are concerned. And they're, and so as far as the community, it was just, I was just another person coming in and they probably didn't even know that I had come back because all the rest of the families that went back into farming or whatever they were doing were already here or, and or were at the grocery store like the Nakatas. And so of course they paved the way, and, which I'm very thankful for. And, and then I just came and joined the group and went to work in Seattle and went to school in Seattle and, and got back, commuted with some of my classmates that I hadn't seen for many years.

DG: So how did your family feel about being able to return to Bainbridge Island and return to their land?

MW: Well, my dad was very anxious to come back. He just, he didn't like Chicago and he didn't like the weather back there 'cause it was very, very cold. And he was a very skinny man so he was always cold anyway. And he was very anxious to come back to Bainbridge. And I think that because of what they had done in their years prior, prior to even having a family, and the, the way that they had to work, that they're, they're ready and willing to do anything to keep going and to make their life better. So, my dad wasn't one that complained. He just kept working and doing the best that he could to make the whole lifestyle better.

DG: And so how would you describe it was for him when he did return back? It was...

MW: Oh, I think, well, I'm sure there was hard work, but I wasn't here so, I think Sue would probably be able to tell you better. Or my younger sister would be able to tell you better because she was with them. And I wasn't with them for quite a number of years. Even before because I left earlier and then they came out later. And then even coming back, well, my sister Sue came back with them, with my mom and dad, and Shima. And so she would be able to tell you more how my dad felt. But my dad was just a hard worker so he would just dig in and start working. And I can remember when he was in his eighties, I went out and -- you know, I would think that he didn't have to do this -- but he'd be out digging and doing more drainage work out in the field. And, with the type of tools that he had. And I remember telling my husband, "Help him. Look what he's doing." And he just said, "I can't help him with the kind of tools that he's using." And so you know that our folks really worked hard with what they had. They didn't go out and buy new equipment, they, they just worked with what they had. And so, you know, you have more respect for what they did, and what they had gone through.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.