<Begin Segment 7>

TI: Okay. Let's go back to your mother and father. Tell me what your father was like. How would you describe your father?

TM: Well, he believed in hard work, you know, you want to play, well, work comes first. And then he said, "Go to school and I want you to, you know, be a good student." So he believed, too, be a hard worker.

TI: And how would he communicate this to you? Was it, like, Japanese?

TM: Yeah, they'd speak Japanese. I knew enough Japanese in those days.

TI: And then how would he react if he felt like you weren't working hard enough or you were playing before you finished your work, what would he do?

TM: Well, I obeyed him. I said, yeah, you can play hard, and I told him, "I'm going to play baseball Sunday," he said, "Okay, just work hard and play, get your work done," and, see, we were on a farm, too, at that time, he was a farmer, he was a berry farmer. But I didn't care for berries, so when I got a certain age, I went into row crop.

TI: And so your father believed in hard work...

TM: Yeah, hard work.

TI: ...going to school, doing well in school, things like that. How about your mother? What was your mother like?

TM: Well, she was quiet. She didn't say too much, my father did all the talking.

TI: And what was your mother's name?

TM: Seki, S-E-K-I.

TI: So you didn't really know your mother that well, she was pretty quiet?

TM: Well, I knew her well enough to... [laughs].

<End Segment 7> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Watsonville - Santa Cruz JACL. All Rights Reserved.