<Begin Segment 23>
MU: I wanted to get into the resettlement, your resettlement. Now, why did you and your husband decide to live here in Seattle, because your background is in the San Francisco area?
MM: Well, this is kind of a reverse. Usually the husband comes to the wife's... this is reversed, because Tak was drafted into the army just before the war. He couldn't get further deferment from the University of Washington. And he was just about in his last quarter at the UW to graduate. And their journal, the TYEE, had his picture in there to graduate. He never made the grade then because he was drafted. So, when the Korean situation broke out, Tak said, "I think we'd better leave here." And I know in back of his mind... he was in the reserves, you see, as a first lieuy (lieutenant). Well, the university in the meantime wrote and said, "If you wanna graduate under the old requirements, please come back within ten years," or something like that. There was a certain period of time. So he thought, "Well, okay. We'd better clear out of here." Well, what do you know, he registered and soon after that -- at the university, that is -- he gets walking papers from Uncle Sam, you know. He says, "Oh no," but when we looked at it, he was being called up under the California quota, not Washington, so in some way, with the professor's help and all, he got out of going. Yeah. So, the reason why we came back here is because he wanted to finish up at the University of Washington, which makes sense.
MU: And you have stayed ever since?
MM: And I have stayed here ever since. I wasn't too sure whether I'd like it, but this is a beautiful country, this "Emerald City" and all. There's a certain amount of crime and all, but that's to be expected.
MU: Now, how many children did you and Tak have?
MM: Two.
MU: Two. And how about grandchildren?
MM: Five.
MU: You see them often?
MM: Often enough. [Laughs]
MU: They probably like to come see Grandma, huh?
MM: Yeah, that's right.
<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.