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So, you know, they had a lot of courage, but my grandfather, when he came here, like I said before, he wasn't the number one son, so he was getting nothing. He had an eye that was blind because he had gotten hit with a stick, and I guess the stick went into his eye. So it was a little cloudy and he had no vision. And then when he was in Hawaii working, he worked in a sawmill and cut off one of his thumbs, so he had a thumb that was missing and then this finger because the nerves were not attached. They can do miraculous things now, they probably could have sewed on his thumb. But because this was severed, and the nerves to this index finger were severed, this finger was stiff and he had feeling in it, but it was stiff and it was useless. When he came to America, he had some issues, he had some issues. So fir him to come here and never wanting to go back to Japan, he said his family is going to be raised here and become Americans. As opposed to my maternal grandmother, who was all ready to go back to Japan because they had amassed five thousand dollars. And unbeknownst to her, my grandfather went and bought this vineyard. My mother said her mother was so furious. She was so mad, she had gotten all kinds of, they call it omiyage when you take gifts. She had all these gifts bought to go back to Japan, and then my grandfather does this. And then he's the one that got killed, and then she was really alone. So it was not easy for either my paternal grandfather or my maternal grandmother, because they lost their spouses. Had to go it alone, but fortunately they had good children who looked after them, so they lived good lives. My paternal grandfather and my maternal grandmother both lived into their nineties and saw the American Dream, saw the American Dream, their American Dream. Maybe not so much my maternal grandmother, but my paternal grandfather did. He used to carry my suitcase to the bus when I used to go back to nursing school. I told him, "Jiichan, you don't have to do this, you don't have to walk me to the bus, I can do it myself." But no, he insisted on taking, walking me to the bus to get back to nursing school, and I guess maybe that was his way of showing me his pride, perhaps. I never thought of it, but he was happy I was going on, getting educated. Who knows? He had his reasons.

LG: Do you know what happened to the vineyard?

DM: You know, I don't know. All I know is my... I don't know if they were, if they really owned it. They might have been buying it, so it might have just been repossessed. But my parents did own the property they had, and so they did eventually sell -- [coughs] excuse me -- sell it. And they got a little money for it. My mother being so tenacious about saving money, I'm sure that was put aside for their future to buy a home. So they did okay, they did okay.

[Interruption]

LG: I think you were in the middle of talking about your grandfather.

DM: Uh-huh, I'm trying to think what it was about. Well, my grandfather, he was a good Christian man. So I asked my father, "When did Jiichan become Christian?" and he says he always was. Well, you know, being raised in Japan, he was not always a Christian. So I was just curious as to whether missionaries had gone over there and he had converted to Christianity. And you know, in your wildest dreams, you think, hey, maybe he did convert to Christianity and he was ousted by his family. Because a lot of times families will do that for any reason. If you marry into the wrong family, they may throw you out. So I will never know, but all I know is when I asked my dad when Jiichan became Christian, he said he always was. And I know he helped build the Loomis Methodist Church. And when I went back there in... gee, it was around 2004, I was able to attend that church. And it was, you could see the Asian style in the landscaping, but it was mainly Caucasian at that point. That was special, that was special. So anyway, so my grandfather always attended the church in Seabrook, they had the Seabrook Christian church, and he was really, really a good guy. He came here never intending to go back. His was the American Dream for those who came after him.

When my parents built their home or bought a home, left Seabrook and bought a home about three miles from here, I think that's when he really, really felt like he had reached his American Dream, that his son was able to purchase a home, he had a room of his own, and he could have his vegetable garden right there in the yard, the only stain that I saw when my parents made that move was the people who sold the home to my parents were German immigrants. They had left Germany, they were the German displaced people, so they had come here. And when he sold his home to my parents, the neighbors said, "Why did you sell it to a Jap?" So even then, my father was hurt because he was moving into a neighborhood that he knew he wasn't welcome. But over the years, because my father was such a nice guy, so helpful, they kept up their property immaculately, kept their home immaculate, they were accepted. The neighbors came over, brought cakes, and one of the neighbors would come over and crochet with my mother. So they found out we weren't so bad. And that's an unfortunate thing, and that's why I am so committed with my life to overcome racism because I've lived it, it's ugly. People are people no matter what. And no one, no one, ever, ever should think you're better than anyone else. You're all human, you all have feelings, and no one should ever feel that they are inferior to anyone else, all men are created equal. So that's my goal in life, you know, right now. I don't know how many years I have left, but my goal in life is to make everyone feel that they are as good as anyone else. No matter what the color of their skin is, we all bleed red blood, and all of us underneath, once you cut that skin open, we're all the same color. I've seen it, it's ugly, and unless we get above that, we'll never have peace. We'll never have peace.

So anyway, getting back to my grandfather, he's the one that instilled these things in me, and my father, and my mother was a racist. Growing up, oh my gosh, guess who didn't like? The Chinese and the Filipinos. The Chinese were "opium smokers," "gamblers," and the Filipinos "robbed you blind." I said, "Mother..." and I was very stern with her. I said, "How, when you were so prejudiced against, how can you look down on anyone and lump them all together and say they are all opium smokers and gamblers and thieves?" I said, "People are individual, you can't lump them all together." I was really disappointed in her and her attitude. Oh my gosh, terrible. Terrible racist. And one time she told me, she said there was this big Black man at church, and she went to the Christian church here, and she says, "He wanted to hug me." She says, "I'm not going to hug a big Black man." I said, "Mom, he's a brother in Christ. He's your brother. There's nothing wrong with hugging him." She said, "Well, I didn't know him." What a disappointment. But anyway, I guess I had my hangups as my generation does or seems to. And my kids will probably have hangups, too, so I had to forgive her. [Laughs] But it's a disappointment when you hear that, when I didn't expect to hear that from her. But I guess growing up in California where there were Filipino people and Chinese people, they felt that way. And that's one thing.

You want me to tell another story, you know, about what Japan has done to Korea and China in the past? It's horrendous. They think they're the superior Asian race. Well, I've got news for them. Here again, and I don't know what religion you are, but many, many Koreans have converted to Christianity, wherein Japan it is tough selling, the Christian religion. When I was there, I asked, and it's less than one percent. And in this day and age where there was so much missionary work and everything, it's surprising, but this is where I've been told that if children convert to Christianity, the family might disown them. So they're tough to sell, but... and then when I talk to my children about religion, they say, "Oh, Mom, leave everyone alone, they can believe the way they want." And so what I tell them is, "I have my faith, I love my god. Jesus died because we are a sinful people, and I have a savior now because he went on that cross. And I want everyone to have that same assurance, and that's why I have to speak out," and I left it at that, and there was silence. So I'm hoping it's food for thought because my children are not as committed as I am. So we'll see, we'll see, I don't know. I just have to pray about it and hope someday they will have the same faith I do. That's why I think I am so calm about getting older, because I know where my destination is, and I know a lot of my friends who don't know where they're going after death, they agonized about it. So anyway, I totally, everyone has what they believe, they're entitled to that. And I can introduce my religion, but I will never force it on someone.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2023 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.