<Begin Segment 6>

RP: Do you have any other childhood memories of Sacramento?

MI: Not really. Oh, I remember a park. My sister was born and so that means that I was five. And there was a park across the street from our house and we lived in a duplex. And the people living on the other side was a Japanese reverend, and I don't know their name. But I remember that they spoke beautiful Japanese, so we picked that up. So our Japanese speaking was very elegant, I understand. But anyway, we used to go to this park across the street and there was this pond and there was these dragonflies all around the edge of the pond. And we used to get a little, little cord and tie their legs or whatever and walk around with them. That is something that I... kind of a cute memory. But when I came to L.A. we moved to Boyle Avenue, Boyle Heights. And people asked us where we learned to speak such elegant Japanese. Well, it came from this family.

RP: So that was the first, first place that you settled in was Boyle Heights area?

MI: Yeah.

RP: And then you moved to Glendale a little while...

MI: Let's see, how did that go? There's a fly in here. I'm not quite sure whether we moved to... you know where there's a produce market area on San Pedro? We did live in a house there. Maybe that might have been the first place we stopped. And then we went to Glendale, and Glendale we went to L.A. And because it was in that produce area, next door was an Italian family. And they were Catholics and it was Mama and Papa Joe. And they were almost like a surrogate parent because my mother would have to help my dad with his job. And I would take care of the kids but Mama Massa, was the one that oversaw everything for the family. And that was done purely on a voluntary basis, you know, on her side. Which I thought was very generous. So we used to go to Mama Massa's because she used to bake bread, the best bread, I remember. And she would give us pieces of dough and we'd roll it up and it gets almost dark, you know, but it doesn't matter, she says we're gonna bake it anyway, it'll kill all the germs. We used to make these little snakes. And I remember that real fondly. And then Papa Joe got in trouble with my dad because he used to have a still under the house. [Laughs] And he used to make wine.

RP: Your dad loved wine.

MI: My... he didn't care. But you know what? Papa Joe gave it to us. And my dad thought that we were too young to have wine. And Papa Joe says, "Why? Mussolini drank wine." So he didn't think there was anything bad for us to have wine when we were kids. [Laughs] But it's funny, the Massas were one of the most loyal, loyal friends you could ever, ever find. We moved to Glendale, came back down to Los Angeles, and during the evacuation period, they lived in, near San Fernando Road on... not Cazador, something like that. She was the one that would pick up my dad's important papers and hold it for us, because we were on a curfew. We couldn't leave, we couldn't go within a five-mile radius. So she had to come and pick up the papers. And that's really, it's amazing what she did for us.

RP: How long did you stay in touch with the Massas?

MI: Until their daughter passed away, which was not too long ago. That's a long time. They only had one daughter, Mary.

[Interruption]

RP: Mary, did they help you in any tangible way during evacuation period? In other words, storing possessions or...

MI: Yeah, they stored... well, you know, they had a dining room set, we had a dining room set, quite a large one, and a buffet. But my parents gave it to them. 'Cause there was no money to give to them, 'cause that was all gone. But, so I remember that when it was time for them to return it, my dad says, "No, it's yours." And they kept in touch all along. And any mail that came, went to the Mama Massas and Papa.

RP: You mentioned a story about, about the father giving you wine.

MI: Which one? Oh, where he diluted it?

RP: Is that what he did?

MI: Yeah, that was the only way we got to drink it.

RP: So how old were you?

MI: Pretty young.

RP: Nine or ten?

MI: No, younger than that.

RP: Younger than that?

MI: But it was funny that my dad should do that but I guess maybe Papa Massa's young wine was pretty good, or whatever. [Laughs]

RP: Get 'em started early?

MI: Yeah. But I always remember that. Isn't that funny how certain things you remember, and why can't you remember other things? But I remember Papa Joe saying, "No, Mussolini drank wine." So... and somebody else says, "Yeah, but look where he ended up though." [Laughs] So, yeah, I have very, very fond memories of that. And Mary Massa, after her parents passed away, was always connected and associated with our family, weddings and things, funerals. Always remembered us at Christmas time. That's what you call a really loyal friend, you know. Never questioned you.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.