<Begin Segment 4>

EK: That's actually a good lead in to the first check presentation ceremonies.

LJ: Oh, yes.

EK: What was your role in that, and what was your, just, recollection of being at those events?

LJ: I was still pretty young at that point, so I think, other than logistical stuff, I don't know how much of a role I had. But I found it to be very... it was very touching. It was very moving to be able to see, because we hadn't really been out then on a bunch of workshop trips, or I hadn't, at least, and so it was one of my first opportunities to see the direct impact of what went on. And it was interesting, over the years you'd talk to some people who were just overly grateful, and you'd talk to some people who were still very angry. And it was, you kind of saw the range of emotions in people, and they would share their experience with you, but it was, to see those first checks presented and the impact... I said often, to be in a government job where you see, you start something, you see a direct impact of it, and you see it finished, is, I think, a rare thing. So it was very gratifying to see that play out.

EK: Are there any particular individuals or stories that kind of stuck with you that you recall?

LJ: I don't know that there were so much specific people, but I will say the cases of, where you would talk to someone and they would tell you... and I heard this story, unfortunately, time and time again. But you would hear the stories of, they would say, "This is just so important to me." "I was a new mom, I had small children, we were ripped from our home, my husband lost his job." And now... at the time I was young, I wasn't married when I started working on the program. And now, being older and married and having kids myself, it just hit home even more to look back on some of these people who literally were doing nothing. And to have them recount all those years later what it meant to them to be recognized now for all that they went through, I just heard the stories time and time again of how people's lives were disrupted for so long. And it was moving then, and to look back now and have some perspective, it was pretty amazing.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2019 Emi Kuboyama. All Rights Reserved.