<Begin Segment 36>

AH: ...reflections on things, looking back over your whole life. What's most important in your life right now?

WY: My grandchildren.

AH: Your what? Your grandchildren?

WY: My grandchildren.

AH: And how many are there?

WY: Seven.

AH: Wow.

WY: Yeah.

AH: And how many kids do you have? Three, is it?

WY: Three, two girls, a boy.

AH: How many kids do each of them have?

WY: My oldest daughter, Amy, has two. My second daughter, Lois, has two. And my son has three.

AH: And you're an old coach and a manager and everything else, how do you coach and manage these kids?

WY: Well, when they get out of line, I just laugh because they said the grandparents is not supposed to scold them, see. You're not supposed to hit them, so I just stay back and laugh. Sometimes when my two youngest ones, the eight-year and six-year-old, they fight each other and I'm there watching them, I would stop them. But, I just... you know.

AH: And the grandchildren from your daughters live in Southern California, but what about your son's kids, where do they live?

WY: They live here in Honolulu. My son was in Tokyo, just moved back about three months ago. He was, he was there for five years and came back, and now he's in America. He wanted to bring his family back because he wanted to bring the kids back to... so he got them in at Punahou.

AH: So you see them very regularly, a lot more than you see your daughter's children?

WY: Oh, yeah. They're all big. Like, the oldest one went to Boston College. He's working for KPMG. And my second one, my granddaughter is at Boston College also. She's going to be a nurse practitioner. And then my other grandson is here at UH taking business. And my other granddaughter at University of Chicago. She going to be a nurse practitioner also. So, they're all out already.

AH: That's a pretty good record for a person who used to skip classes.

WY: [Laughs] Yeah. That's why every time, every time, when the kids are in school like that, like my granddaughter, she's a senior now. She's going to graduate in May next year, so she's just taking exam, you know, finals, and she called me and say, "Grandpa, pray for me so that I can pass." So I go to church and pray for her. [Laughs]

<End Segment 36> - Copyright © 2003 Japanese American National Museum. All Rights Reserved.