<Begin Segment 2>

RP: So who came first in, in your family? Were you the oldest?

MS: I'm the oldest, and I had a brother, George, who passed away, and then --

RP: And how, how much younger was George?

MS: See, he was two and a half, I think. About two, three years, and then Mary was about two years later, too. And Alice came quite a while later, 'cause she and I were fourteen years apart.

RP: Who were you closest to of your siblings?

MS: Well, they were so small that... well, Alice was my sister that I was close to. That's why I miss her a lot. We used to call each other. I couldn't get up there and she can't come out, so we used to talk on the phone at least once or twice a week, so I miss talking to her, with her gone now. And I think of something, "Oh, I should call and tell her," and then I, it dawns on me that she's not here anymore and it's really hard.

RP: What do you remember most about your brother George?

MS: Oh, I don't know. He, he was a, he was a... being a boy, my mother babied him a lot and he was, he was sort of a, I always had to go fight for him. I know he'd get in trouble at school, I had to go fight for him. He was very quiet. But he, we got along. He passed away quite young. To me, young. I think he was around sixty something.

RP: How about Mary? What can you tell us about her?

MS: Well, it was kinda sad. She drowned in an accident, reservoir. We don't know exactly what happened, but it was sad. In the olden days they had huge reservoirs to hold water to irrigate the citrus groves and in those days the fence wasn't well, wasn't well protected like they do now, and they think she stumbled and fell. We don't know.

RP: How old was she?

MS: She was ten, I believe. She died quite -- that's why there's a gap between my, Alice and I, because she was in between.

RP: And what was your maiden name?

MS: Ishii. Ishii.

RP: Can you spell that for us?

MS: I-S-H-I-I.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.