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LG: When did you come to Seabrook?

DM: In, I think it was the spring of '44. So it was before the war ended, and it was before people were accepted back into California. And my father said the sentiment in California was so hostile, he said he was going to try the East Coast to see if we were welcomed here. And when he got here, he was called a "damn Jap," and he says, "Ooh, I guess there's hostility here, too." Well, the war involved the whole United States, so when you were of Japanese ancestry, you were going to feel that.

LG: And in 1944, how old were you?

DM: I was six. I was six, so when I came here, I entered the first grade. I started kindergarten in, I believe it was Rohwer, and my mother said I would run home every day, I would never stay in school. And I can remember, I remember that. She would take me, and before she could even get home, I would run home and I'd be there greeting her. She would get so frustrated, she was so angry, and then she would let my grandfather stay with me. But he had a job, I guess, in camp, so he couldn't stay with me all day, so he would sit behind the boiler and I would keep peeking to see if he was there. And this I remember vividly. If he was gone, I was gone, I would run home. So I don't know how much I got out of kindergarten, but I guess I got enough that they put me in first grade when I did move here.

LG: Do you have any other memories of Rohwer or growing up school, what your home was like?

DM: Well, when... actually, all my memories are from Seabrook after moving here. And so it was interesting because my dad chose an apartment very close to the school. And so my mother's first thought was, "Darlene is never going to go to school. She's going to run home every day." Why did he choose this apartment? Well, he chose it because he had two young daughters who had to walk to school, and he wanted to make it, it is most convenient for us. He didn't want us to have to walk all the way across the village. So of course he chose that apartment. So my mother, again, just before she passed away, she asked me, "Why didn't you run home from school when you started first grade. You know what I told her? I said our family was together again. I knew we were going to stay together again. When I was in camp and school, Dad was gone. I didn't know where he was, I didn't know what the circumstances were, all I know was our family was broken. I was afraid my mother was going to disappear, too, and that's why I was running home. That is my supposition. So when she asked me why I didn't run home from school here, I said, "Mom, our family was together again. Dad was with us and I knew I was safe." Because I was a daddy's girl. I was the younger, I was daddy's girl. So that's one of the things, the evils of war. When things like that have to happen, it affects you. It affects you, it affects kids no matter how small they are, it affects them.

LG: You had mentioned some [inaudible].

DM: Yes. Unfortunately, you know, they chose to go back. One of my uncles decided to settle in Michigan and he worked for what they call the Rose Farm, so he helped raise roses, he worked in a rose, where they raised roses, lots of roses. And my other in-laws chose to go back to... or not my in-laws, my other relatives chose to go back to California. So I had two uncles. See, all my mother's siblings came to Seabrook with us because my father's siblings, two went back to California and one settled in Michigan. So unfortunately, I never grew up, I grew up with my uncle and aunts that were my mother's siblings, but I never had a chance. Because back then, couldn't afford to travel. So I know my sister corresponded with my older cousin, but because I was younger, I didn't know, there was no one my age, and so I never had the luxury of corresponding with them, or getting to know them at all. It was only in my seventies that I became acquainted with them. So you missed out a little there. But then again, most people didn't have cousins. The parents came. I mean, I was fortunate to have parents who were Nisei. Most of my friends, their parents were Issei, and their parents came by themselves, so they had no relatives at all. So it wasn't until our generation grew up that our children were able to appreciate cousins and relatives and visit and vacation together, things like that. It was lonely for my parents and my grandparents especially. My cousin told me that her mother used to see our grandmother looking towards the east and with very sad eyes. And so she asked him, "Why do you always look to the east and are so sad?" She said, "Because I'm thinking about my sister and I'd love to see my sister." She never did. When she left Japan, that was it. She was the one that was, died of blood poisoning from the cut on her arm.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2023 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.