<Begin Segment 29>

TI: Now, tell me a little bit about your family. So when did you get married?

SK: '48.

TI: And what is your wife's name?

SK: Helen Yukiko.

TI: And where did you meet her?

SK: Like I say, when we were little kids, my father, he worked, her father worked under my father. So we're family friends forever.

TI: Oh, so you've known her all your life.

SK: Yeah.

TI: And how many children did you have?

SK: Three.

TI: And can you tell me their names, your three children?

SK: Yeah. They don't have Japanese names. Bruce, Patricia, and Gordon.

TI: Good. You know, I'm at the end of my questions, and I just wanted to ask you, just in general, when you think back on your life and all the things that you've lived through, is there anything that kind of stands out as a, as a way that you'd like to live your life that you've learned, what's important to you?

SK: One thing my father always told me, "Life is like nature. If you have children, don't protect them. Let them do what they want, because," he said, "it's like farming. You plant something under a big tree or something, it'll never grow. You're protecting it too much. Let them do what they want, and if you can help 'em, help 'em, but don't try to tell 'em what to do." Maybe they didn't do what I would've liked them to do, but that's the way nature is. Says, "You gotta be like nature. You don't overprotect." In other words, you can help 'em, but don't try to -- because you're a doctor, don't try to make him a doctor, because he might not like to be a doctor, and he's not going to enjoy it the rest of his life. That's what sticks in my mind, always.

TI: Well, I think those are great words.

SK: Because he says, "Nature is the main thing in life," he says. That's what, now, we're talking about green, green, we've got to protect the nature. And that's the problem we're having now, because too much people and too much pollution and stuff like that. And I think that's a good thing to learn, that everybody can't be a doctor. If it did, we'd starve to death.

TI: That's good. Well, Sho, thank you so much for doing this interview. This was fabulous in terms of all the information, so, again, thank you.

<End Segment 29> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Watsonville - Santa Cruz JACL. All Rights Reserved.