<Begin Segment 22>

TI: I just wanted to follow up with your children, because we talked a little bit about them. So you had six children?

RS: Six kids, and one passed away with breast cancer. And I have eleven grandkids and five great-grandkids.

TI: Wow, that's amazing. And I just wanted to end with... because now you go to schools and talk about your experiences.

RS: Oh, yeah.

TI: And I wanted to mention the first time you went to Colorado and wanted to ask you why you did that?

RS: Well, it's because of my grandson. He was the same age, I was the same age when this happened, and so there was something in common. But the main thing was that these kids, see, it's not in the history books. And these kids, they would sit there and listen, and that's what made me... so when these others, they said, "Would you speak to my class?" and it was, without any hesitation, I do, and I enjoy that.

TI: And what do you tell them?

RS: That my... what they want to know mainly is the wartime, in camp, what happened.

TI: So a lot of the things that we talked about today, you would share with them?

RS: Some, yeah.

TI: Is there anything that you share with them that you didn't share today with me?

RS: No. Oh, except for this one little boy said, "Are you going to write a book?" and I said, "Oh, no, I don't think so." But one, I think, made me feel good, because when I'm talking to them, they listened. They weren't bored. And so when I get asked, then I said I would.

TI: Now, what would you say their reaction is? Are they surprised that this happened, or they're just... what would you say their reaction is?

RS: To what?

TI: Yeah, why they listened to closely to you?

RS: I think a lot of them, they're just interested, because for one thing, it wasn't in the history book, what I went through. I think that's what... that's what caught them. And then now, I heard, like the Kiwanis Club, they kind of want to see if I would speak to them. I think, I said... I don't know, I can't think of it right now, but I think their questions would be more, not like the little kids.

TI: And what do you think would be different from the Kiwanis? So these would be adults.

RS: Yeah.

TI: What do you think adults would ask?

RS: They'll go into it deeper, and then I wouldn't know how to answer some of 'em. They'll get to the deep end of it. They want to know... and I said, oh, well, maybe one of these days. Maybe before I kick the bucket, I will.

TI: But I'm guessing they'll be similar questions to what I'm asking, too, so I don't think I've asked you such hard questions. [Laughs] It's just wanting to understand your life and how you feel about it. So I encourage you to do that, I think it would be good.

RS: I'll see, I'll see. I've got your number, and I'll call you and let you know.

TI: So is there anything... so I'm done with my questions now. Is there anything else that you want to say while we're on camera?

RS: No, not really. I think we covered everything. But I got to tell you this: one interesting thing is my son Mike, he's my oldest son. And one day in Fruitland where we were living, I would see the tractor, he's on the tractor, he's going down, and then pretty soon in the middle of the field, he stops. And I thought, "Gee, I wonder what happened." So here he is, he's walking up from the tractor, and I said, "Anything wrong?" And he says, "No, but I'm not going to be a farmer." He quit.

TI: At that moment he quit?

RS: He quit. And Dad, did Dad ever get mad at you?

TI: And that's when he decided he wanted to become a teacher?

RS: I guess.

TI: But not a farmer.

RS: Not a farmer. He just quit.

TI: But isn't that true for lots of the Japanese families that came here to farm after the war, that next generation, the Sanseis, did other things, they didn't want to become farmers?

RS: Yeah. That's why I admire some of 'em that really stuck to it.

TI: But it's such a hard life.

RS: I know. I know some few that even their kids are farming. I admire them.

TI: And because fewer of them became farmers, did the Japanese community get smaller in Ontario, or is it still pretty...

RS: Well, after the parents had passed away... then the young ones had moved away from here. But they still come home, though.

TI: Well, Ruth, thank you so much for doing this interview.

RS: Did you get anything?

TI: Yeah, we got a lot. This was fun; I learned a lot by doing this. It sounds like you had a really rich life.

RS: Yeah, afterwards, you know. And I love everybody, especially my kids, and my grandkids, and my great grandkids.

TI: Well, thank you again, so much.

RS: Thank you.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.