Densho Digital Archive - Nancy Iwami Interview (denshovh-inancy-01-0004)

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MA: So how many children were in your family?

NI: [Laughs] There were seven of us. Five girls, including myself, and two brothers.

MA: So five girls, two boys.

NI: Two boys.

MA: And how, were you the oldest or in the middle?

NI: I'm the oldest, and it's just, almost like the saying goes, it was almost like clockwork. Every two years there were, I think five, then three or so, two came way later.

MA: So you were the oldest, so I imagine you had a lot of responsibilities that the younger ones didn't have.

NI: Yes, I know. I really did. But come to think of it, it wasn't too bad now. It seemed like when I was growing, up, goodness, I thought everywhere I went, Mother would say, "You take the younger ones with you." So I didn't want to, but I had to. But now, as we got older, I've lost three sisters, I miss them. Well, even when we were younger, when one was not at home, at some friend's place, and they're not around, we miss them. Yeah, and as we get older, it gets, well, worse. I mean, we get more lonesome, but that's life, I think.

MA: So what are some of your earliest memories of living in Watsonville or farming, or any of your early memories?

NI: Well, it was, what should I say? I guess we enjoyed ourselves. We had a big family, so the kids all played together, rolled around in the dirt, and the dirt was pure then, no chemicals. And then, there were some, roller skating, and there was biking. There was hillsides, and we'd go up the hill, occasionally we'd come to town and go to a theater show. And then New Year's, well, if it's a, we called it camp because there was a group in this boss's place, and so each family would have a big New Year's party, and we'd go from each house, one house to the other. Yeah, and another good time was like Fourth of July. My dad would go to town and he'd buy about two cases of soda pop, we called it, and that was a treat. [Laughs] In other words, we weren't dirt poor, but we were all about in the same position.