<Begin Segment 13>

LT: In 1920, you got married, I think. How did you and your first husband meet?

JH: Mr. Suzuki introduced us.

LT: Mr. Suzuki was a neighbor in Parkdale?

JH: Yeah, he lived about half a mile from where we lived.

LT: Okay. And your husband didn't live in Parkdale.

JH: No, he lived in Hood River, I mean, in Portland.

LT: Okay. And he was originally from the Dalles?

JH: Yes, they had a farm in the Dalles.

LT: So in 1920, who did you marry?

JH: 1940...

LT: Oh, it wouldn't have been 1920.

JH: No, 1949.

LT: Okay, he was born in 1920.

JH: Yes.

LT: Okay, and so what was his name?

JH: Tsutomi, but we went by Tom, Tommy, I mean.

LT: Tommy. And so you, the Parkdale kid who worked in the orchard and cut asparagus, moved to Portland. How did your life change?

JH: Of course, I still, 'cause they had a grocery store. So I worked just as hard as I did on the farm, or maybe even harder, because we'd, Grandma would fix lunch, and we'd dash home. I stayed with my in-laws, we stayed together. We'd go home, have lunch, and then I swear, right after we got through eating, we'd go back to the store so the others can go have lunch. So there wasn't much time we had doing things together while we were working.

LT: And your husband's name was Tsutomu Tommy Okazaki?

JH: Uh-huh.

LT: So you lived with the Okazaki family. What was the name of your store and what did you sell?

JH: Lombard Food Center. It was a grocery store.

LT: And so your jobs were different. What kinds of tasks did you have at Lombard Food Center?

JH: Running the register, clerking.

LT: So you and your husband both worked at the Lombard Food Center. What was it like to be a married couple, to work at a grocery store that was probably open seven days a week?

JH: Uh-huh. It was hard work, and we had to be... like checking out, it's not like now where they have the computer. We had to know every price of the produce, and of course, the canned goods were all marked, but like the produce, you had to know what produce you were ringing up. It wasn't bad, but it was hard work.

LT: Did you also help stock the items?

JH: No.

LT: But you said sometimes when people bought heavy merchandise, you had to lift it.

JH: Lift it, yes. That was hard.

LT: It sounds like you were very busy. What were your hours like?

JH: Whenever the store opened, and then after we had breakfast and all that, we'd go to work. In the evening, too, we were open 'til like nine in the evening. So usually, though, after I had dinner, I wouldn't go back.

LT: So it was a long day.

JH: Yes, it was a long day.

LT: You also had two children.

JH: Uh-huh.

LT: Can you talk about that?

JH: Yeah, Raymond was the oldest, he was born in 1950, and then Betty Jean was born in '54. And, of course, I didn't have... when they were little, being, working, while Tommy was living, Grandma Okazaki took care of the kids, 'cause I was always working. So I really didn't raise them when they were just little babies.

LT: So while you growing up didn't have grandparents, your children had the benefit of their grandparents then.

JH: Uh-huh.

LT: What kinds of things did you and your family do together for fun? I know you said that when you were growing up, you remember an annual camping trip that you took. How did you and your family spend time?

JH: We would head for the beach once a year, and that was our vacation. We'd spend a week at the beach.

LT: Did you camp out in sleeping bags?

JH: No, no, we stayed in a motel. [Laughs]

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.