I am now very old, realizing that my life is drawing to an end. My life has been changing through many experiences. Including the most vivid memory, Manzanar. The whole family has changed because of this. Jeanne for the better, Ko for the worse. Jeanne’s life had basically started at Manzanar, and Ko destroyed his life in Manzanar. Jeanne became a stronger American person with rights and goals, and Ko became a violent drunk (eventually quitting his ghastly habit after Manzanar).
I remember the day that changed our lives forever. Ko was the highest member of our family and everyone respected him greatly. He was a strong, bright, dashing gentleman. It was a warm sunny day, and as usual we would help Ko and Woody get ready to go out fishing on the “Nereid”. Almost like a tradition, we would watch them go out to sea until they disappeared where the orange-pink luscious sky met the horizon. This time was different. Instead of disappearing, the boats started coming back! Ko and others were yelling that “the Japanese had bombed pearl harbor”(p.6). I yelled back the first thing that I thought of. “What is Pearl Harbor?!”(p.6). I never got an answer to that question, yet I pondered it for a while.
When we had gotten home, Ko had burned everything that showed he was affiliated to Japan. Yet the FBI took him away against his will the next day. I felt it was my responsibility to keep the family together from here on out. I had woken up early, on that day, ready to endure the first full day of Manzanar. It was cold that night before and I remember having to put the children’s cloths on top of them while they were sleeping to keep them warm because the scratchy, ragged blankets they gave us gave no warmth to the little bodies during the viciously cold night. As the days, weeks, months passed, I realized that Manzanar wasn’t as bad as I thought, that is until Ko came to Manzanar. I felt my dignity slipping away every day like a balloon floating questioningly up to the...