<Begin Segment 14>

AC: So do you have any children?

NH: Yes, I have a son who lives in Portland, and a daughter who lives in Missoula.

AC: What are their names and what are they doing?

NH: Pardon?

AC: What are their names and what are they doing?

NH: Well, my daughter married a Caucasian fellow, and he was with the forestry department, so he's now retired. And my son was in photography business there in McMinnville and in Portland, and then his wife was, she's a German citizen. But he met her in a photography class there in McMinnville, and she got a, she finished, she got a master's degree in Portland State, and got a very responsible job in Germany, which pays real well. And she wanted to take it but she would not go unless my son went with her, and his photography business wasn't doing anything anyway, so it's a matter of them breaking up, well, he went with her. It was supposed to have been two years, but it ended up being four years. Now they're back in Portland, so he's now working with a sculpture in Eugene, I think, is where he said. So he's just doing odd jobs, I guess, to keep himself occupied now that his photography business was interrupted. And she's with a German-speaking class because she's very well-versed in German and also in English. Her English is not a bit broken at all, it's just like she was raised here. Because when she was in Germany, all the schools, their primary language was English. They had to learn English, so I guess that's how come she can speak English without an accent at all. I was disappointed at the time when he said he was marrying a German girl. I thought, oh, it's bad enough to have the language difference to live together, so I was quite disappointed. And when I met her, I was shocked, her English was perfect, just like anybody else. So I passed judgment without knowing. So I just hope they find something permanent back in Portland again. She has a good chance because she has knowledge of both languages.

AC: So looking back upon all your life experiences, what lessons have you learned about living in America?

NH: Well, I feel very fortunate by living here. And just feel like I wouldn't want to be anyplace else, feel more fortunate by living here. I don't know how some of those people that had to go to camp and denied their citizenship and all their rights, but so I have no bitterness there at all because I didn't have to go through that.

AC: Are your parents still alive?

NH: Pardon?

AC: Are your parents still alive?

NH: No, they're both gone. And out of the eight of us children, there's only three of us left.

AC: If your father were here with us just now and he just listened to our entire conversation, heard about your children and grandchildren, what do you think he'd say?

NH: Well, I think he would feel thankful that he has his family, main thing. 'Cause after all, that means more than anything anymore, you know, to have your family, and where you live. So I think he'd feel the same as how I feel.

AC: What values do you think your parents have passed on to you, do you pass on to your children?

NH: Perseverance. 'Cause you encountered so many obstacles, so then they taught us that right there, I think.

AC: When did your husband pass away?

NH: When?

AC: When did he pass away and what happened to him?

NH: He... well, going back farther, when he was eighty years old, he had an awful accident, a drunk driver hit him head-on, disabled him partially mentally, at first fully mentally, but then it gradually was partially, and physically he wasn't able to continue working at all. And he was, he loved his golf, and fishing, so he had enough memory to remember what he liked, but he was very depressed 'cause he couldn't continue with it. So he lived sixteen years after that, just not being himself at all. So that changed my life, too, 'cause I had to be caregiver then, and were allowed to do a lot of things that we had planned in the future, just all that taken away from us. So I'm very bitter about drinking, because it changed my life so much, too, and changed his. He's been gone for six years, now. And I feel fortunate I live in a community, we have real close friends. I'm not near my children, which I'm criticized for a lot 'cause they want me near them, but I've lived here over fifty years, so people that I, the environment and people I know, I'm so used to, it's hard to just decide to take off, you know. But I have to make a choice one of these days. I'm handicapped the way I am, I've had equilibrium damage that affects my walk, and then now I've got rotator cuff, some damage on both arms. So I'm not in good condition but I can still take care of myself, so that, I feel, gives me incentive to keep going.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2004 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.