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RP: Since you just mentioned Joe, let's talk about your siblings. You were the oldest.

MI: Yes.

RP: And then, and then Joe came next?

MI: Joe, then Mike, and Angela.

RP: And do you recall your brothers' and sisters' birth dates? How, how much younger...

MI: We were all a year-and-a-half apart.

RP: A year and a half apart.

MI: I can't understand how they did that. I have grandsons that are a year and a half apart. That is enough to drive you nuts you know. When you have four of 'em that's a year and a half apart. But...

RP: Tell us a little something about each one of your siblings.

MI: Joe, Joe was so even-tempered, so kind, so patient, the nuns used to think he should become a priest. And Mike is the more academic in the family. Smart, but a little bit more aggressive than Joe. And my sister, Angie, was the youngest, not much... oh, we just got along, I guess.

RP: Did you gravitate to any one particular sibling?

MI: I was given the responsibility of looking after my siblings at a very, very early age. Because that was actually survival. My mother and dad, you know, they had to keep the house going. My dad had to keep the business going. But in those days times were different. It isn't... you didn't worry about kidnapping and things like that, or children being molested. I mean, we didn't worry about that. So, when I think of it now, it was a heavy responsibility for me. But that went through practically all my life, that they relied on me. And then when there's something that has to be read in English they relied on me to read that, to make sure that they got the picture correct, you know, or they were reading their contract correctly.

RP: Legal documents.

MI: Yeah.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.