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LG: Yeah, so let's talk about university a little bit.

MR: About what?

LG: University.

MR: University.

LR: Art school?

MR: No. Not... well, college type stuff, okay. Well, I sort of didn't go to college. I got into the drafting, I guess. That's what I did. I didn't go to, I think finally... oh, and then...

Lucas: Did you take classes, I'm really talking about classes about mythology, Greek mythology.

MR: Yeah, maybe in the summer. Summer classes, summer classes, just after high school I took a couple summer classes at the University of Pennsylvania, but somehow I didn't do it anymore. Is it because I got married and had you? I think it's that. [Laughs]

LR: You've been in art, you did go to the academy? No, I'm sorry...

MR: I went to the Academy of Fine Arts, okay, that's where I met your dad. And I did some drawing and was having fun, and then every time I turned around, there was this guy, and there he was. Now, he was like the best painter there, actually, and they would have, every year they had a competition, and the best person that won the competition, the paintings, would get enough money to go to France, or to Europe, to travel to Europe. I think he got it once, and I think he was getting, maybe even twice. And when I was, he was in last year, and he got this thing again. But by that time, I think I moved in with him. [Laughs] And what he did was, he took the money and just sort of laid low and bought a house for Lucas and me and him. By that time, I was pregnant with Lucas.

LG: What's his name?

MR: Who?

LG: Your husband.

MR: Seymour, his name was Seymour. But he was the best painter at the academy at that time. So I sort of hooked up with him, I moved in with him, and eventually, I guess we got this house. Used the money for, instead of going to, used the money for, instead of going to Europe, he bought a house, and that's where Lucas, that's where we lived, that's where Lucas grew up.

LG: What was Seymour like, personality-wise?

MR: Seymour? He was a sweet guy. Let's see, what was he like? He was a very good painter. We were talking about when I went to college, but anyway... want to know more about that, or do you want to know about...

LG: Sure, yeah.

MR: College, college, college. So I didn't... at some point, I think people were still, the war was still going on in Vietnam, so they were training people. I was able to get into a class training for machine work. Why was I doing this? I don't know. It may have also been because it's so hard to remember right there. By that time, perhaps, I was dealing with Yellow Seeds, this organization down in Chinatown. And the other thing -- I'm back and forth -- the other thing that Louise did for us was that... this is not about, during the '60s, there were a lot of demonstrations against the war. And we would... Seymour and I would go down to these demonstrations. And one day we down to one, and we made it into sort of an outing, we'd go down and maybe stay overnight at a campground, and then go to do the demonstration. And one of them we went to, went to one. And at this time, people were running around the Pentagon. We were sort of back up the hill looking, and all of a sudden they started throwing tear gas, big clouds of tear gas coming up. So Seymour grabbed one, I grabbed the other hand, Lucas, and we went running, which is not very nice, not very good, because everyone else was running, right? So a big tall man stood with a, "Stop. Don't run, walk," so we walked him. And Lucas, I think you remember this, don't you? You said you had these dreams. [Laughs] He remembers.

LR: So when I was in college, I had a psychology class, and they were doing psychology of dreams, and they were asking people about their dreams. And my dream was flying through pink clouds, and, "Ooh, where did that come from?" [Laughs] And then I was talking to you and Dad about it one time." That's why I had this recurring dream of this pink cloud, flying through pink clouds. And I just said, "Oh, I'm working on this paper on this dream I keep having." And then you guys laughed, you just kind of cracked up and said, "Oh, I know where that dream comes from." It was literally the most literal dream.

MR: Absolutely, he was... we were carrying him, you're a little guy, right? Well, after that, there were some more, every few months there would be a demonstration, we always left Lucas with Grandma. We never took him along with us, so he stayed...

LR: Which made me very happy.

MR: He seemed to enjoy that. She would... what is it? She would let him sit in front of the television and eat dinner in front of the television.

LR: Yes, with a tray, and then I had teriyaki steak and white rice. That was good.

LG: This was while you and Seymour were off?

MR: We were off demonstrating somewhere. Probably, it would probably be if we were off in Washington. I guess there was a lot of things going on in Washington at that time.

LG: Yeah, what inspired you to get involved with all of that?

MR: Well, I think Seymour was kind of left... well, his background was what they call "Workman Circle Jew."

LR: Workman Circle.

MR: Yes. So he had a, they were sort of left. And then, I think I saw a picture in a magazine of a girl who had been [inaudible] as a child. So from then on, I would demonstrate whenever, and would go down to Washington. We did a lot of them, there were a lot of demonstrations.

LR: Didn't you... I remember you guys said that I was at the March on Washington, I had just been born or something like that? And you told me...

MR: You were at the... we took you down there?

LR: To the March on Washington. This is before the, before you guys got involved in the anti-Vietnam War marches.

MR: Really?

LR: Yeah, you and Dad told me that I was at the March on Washington and I was just born.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2023 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.