<Begin Segment 22>
TI: So you... but each of you spent some time in San Francisco, which gets to my next, kind of, topic. I think that's where you met your future husbands, isn't it, San Francisco?
YN: No, Watsonville.
TI: Oh, Watsonville. So they're from Watsonville? Okay. For some reason, I thought you met in San Francisco.
YN: No.
TI: Okay, so you're in San Francisco, you get some schooling, and you said sewing school?
YN: Yes, Eiko.
TI: And then what kind of schooling did you do?
YN: Business. Healds Business College.
TI: Okay. And so after you finished that, did you come back to Watsonville or did you stay in San Francisco?
YN: I stayed there for about a year and then came back.
TI: Now, why did you come back from your job in San Francisco, back to Watsonville?
YN: I don't know. Why did I move back?
EN: You met Mitts, and he kept coming to see you in San Francisco.
YN: Oh. Didn't I join the YBA church or something?
TI: So while you were in San Francisco, at some point, you met, you met your future husband.
YN: Yes.
EN: You used to come home weekends, sometimes. Then you used to go to the church.
TI: And so, so how did the two of you meet, you and Mitts?
YN: Church, YBA.
TI: And so is Mitts from Watsonville also?
YN: Yes.
TI: And how large was his family? I'm curious.
YN: There was five.
TI: Okay, so a small family. [Laughs] Only five kids. And so the two of you got married. Do you remember what year you got married?
YN: '50.
TI: 1950. And then, so Eiko, you, how did you meet Mitts's brother?
YN: Through us.
EN: Through her. [Laughs] We went to church gatherings.
TI: And so when did you marry your husband?
EN: In September of the same year.
TI: Same year. And, I'm sorry, your husband's name is?
EN: Yamato.
TI: Yamato. And was it unusual for, well, and then, again, your brother married Mitts and Yamato's sister. And do you know what year they got married?
EN: When was that? Karen's, how old is she? She's forty-five, so the year before that they got married.
TI: Oh, so that would be...
EN: They've got a daughter, forty-five years old.
TI: So probably around the early '60s, so more than ten years after.
EN: Yeah.
TI: And so did the two of you have anything to do with that, getting your brother married to your sister-in-law?
YN: My husband's the one that was a matchmaker for everybody, I think. [Laughs]
TI: So your husband matched up Eiko and then your brother, is that it? Well, he must have liked your family, for him to do that.
YN: Wanted to take care of everybody, I guess.
TI: And so I'm curious, are there any, like, special dynamics? When you think of the two of you and your brother married to three siblings, does that make for interesting family gatherings or anything? Yeah, so when you get together, it's like both families now are so close, right? They're just, like, all together. Like your in-laws are your in-laws. [Laughs]
EN: [Laughs] Same. But I had to take care of them.
YN: Yeah, she had to really, from day one until they passed away, took care of the in-laws.
TI: So your father, I mean, I'm sorry, your father-in-law and mother-in-law? Okay, which is your father-in-law and mother-in-law. This gets confusing. [Laughs] And you also took care of... but you said your younger sister took care of your mother when she got older.
EN: Because I had, I had my in-laws to take care of, until they passed away, then I had to do everything for...
TI: Oh, I just think it's, again, I talked about the things that I learn are different, so I think your family is the largest family that I've come across. And then just having sisters marrying brothers is another new one for me. That's interesting. So you're very unique.
<End Segment 22> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Watsonville - Santa Cruz JACL. All Rights Reserved.