Saturday, December 5
We’ve spent the past two days making our cabin as comfortable and convenient as possible. We’re lucky to have our own place — perhaps because we were one of the last families to arrive here. Most others share two families to a cabin like we did with the Yamasakis.
Papa put up some shelves in the kitchen for our cups and plates and cooking supplies. Mike can build more shelving for us in the bedrooms later. Kay and Emma helped Mama unpack most of our bags and organized our things so we can find what we need, like warm clothing, right away. Mama even has her sewing machine in a corner.
But Kay is moving back to New Denver next week to teach. She’ll live in a house provided by the Commission. And now that Emma’s in Rosebery, she’ll be teaching school here instead of at The Orchard. Miss Hyodo was here yesterday making sure the classrooms will be ready soon.
Sunday, December 6
There’s no church here, so my sisters and I dressed warmly and left early this morning for mass at St. Anthony’s. We took the shortcut again but Johnny picked up the rest of our family later and drove them to the church, where we all met up. After mass we introduced Papa to the Yamasakis. He thanked Mrs. Yamasaki for being so good to us while he and Mama weren’t here. Mrs. Yamasaki looked happy because she finally received a letter from her husband!
Johnny took Mama, Papa and Harry home in the truck but the rest of us walked back. It’s so peaceful, at least when there are no trains!
Monday, December 7
We’ve been using up our supply of candles, so I’ll just write a bit before heading to bed. Everybody has been complaining about the lack of good lighting, so Johnny said we’re all getting oil lamps soon. (We could really use an extra heating stove too.) I still wear my clothes to bed every night. I’m also using one of the hot water bottles Mama brought from Oxford Street — this morning we had frost on the blankets, not just the windows.
Papa mentioned that today was the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor. It’s hard to believe all that’s happened to our family and our community since then. I wonder what next year will bring.
Tuesday, December 8
Alex and his father came to Rosebery with some other farmers today. I thanked him for his advice about the shortcut. He promised to show me good places to pick huckleberries next summer. I may actually use some of the things I learned in Guide Camp about foraging! But with all the snow here, summer seems such a long time away.
Mama bought lots of vegetables and wrapped them in the old newspapers we’d used to pack our kitchen things. She put them in a cardboard box near the door. Without a refrigerator, we keep any perishables in a crate outside, underneath the cabin, but have to be careful they don’t freeze. Too bad Rags isn’t here to scare away any bears or wolves!
Thursday, December 10
Johnny brought us a coal oil lamp today. Everyone has one now. The cabin is so much brighter at night. Mama says the lamp is a lot better for sewing — candlelight was very hard on her eyes. She’s making us flannel shirts and blouses. Emma unravelled an old wool sweater and is knitting Harry socks.
I’ve written to Maggie again and Johnny mailed my letter. I hope she’ll get it by Christmas!
Saturday, December 12
When I was fetching water this morning, I met a nice girl named Nora Hisaki. Her family’s been here since September. They had a farm on the Island and spent three months in Hastings Park before coming to New Denver. Then they lived in one of those miserable tents in The Orchard until they finally got their cabin here.
Sunday, December 13
Cold and snowy today. We didn’t go to church. Mama said she’s sure God won’t hold it against us. I hope she’s right. Harry and I had fun building a snowman outside of our cabin. We used twigs to make his face because Mama didn’t want to let us use any of her carrots for a nose!
Monday, December 14
Kay has gone back to New Denver. Johnny (of course!) took her things to the house where she’s staying with four other teachers. I’m jealous because they surely have electricity and indoor plumbing. It must be warmer than our cabin! But I’m going to miss my big sister now that she’s left us again.
Emma’s been busy preparing her lessons. The classroom cabins finally were finished here today, so school opens tomorrow!
Tuesday, December 15
School started here today. I’m disappointed it only goes to Grade Eight, but Emma asked me to be her unofficial helper today, since I can’t go to school myself.
Emma’s teaching Grades Three and Four. She has twenty-five students including Harry and two of Nora’s sisters. Everyone must always speak English in class because the Commission forbids any Japanese. Desks and books have to be shared since there aren’t enough to go around. But all the children seem glad to be here instead of being stuck in their cabins.
Emma told her class they’ve missed so much school already, they must work really hard to catch up. She began reviewing Vocabulary and Arithmetic and even gave out homework on the first day! While Emma taught a Grade Four lesson, I made sure the Grade Three kids worked on the exercises she had given them. Harry didn’t want any help from me! I also kept the heating stove stocked with wood, a chore that needs a lot of attention. Class was over at one o’clock and I was surprised how quickly the time passed. I missed Alex today but I’ll probably see him again.
Wednesday, December 16
Today was the second day of school but Emma didn’t need me. I asked Nora over to our cabin since her four younger sisters were all at school. She asked me what it was like growing up in Vancouver, so I told her about our home on Oxford Street, about Maggie and Sachi and Ellen, about going to Templeton and Girl Guides, about Rags and even Geechan. I suddenly felt so homesick, I burst into tears!
Nora hugged me and gave me her handkerchief. She said she missed her home on their farm too, her friends at school and living on the Island. Her family had two dogs and two cats they had to give up! Whenever I feel sorry for myself, I should remember that everyone here has lost their homes and so much more.
Thursday, December 17
Nora and I spent the morning searching for kindling. We need every little bit! We found some driftwood near the lake and some pine cones under the snow. We even used the twigs from Harry’s snowman.
Nora told her mother about Mama’s sewing machine, so Mrs. Hisaki asked Mama if she could mend some of her daughters’ clothes. Mama was delighted! She says it makes her feel useful again.
Saturday, December 19
Kay visited us today. Johnny drove her over and also brought some groceries Mama couldn’t get at the little store here. School started in The Orchard yesterday and Kay’s teaching Grade Eight. She says her classroom isn’t any warmer than Emma’s — the ink bottles were frozen solid when her students arrived for class! She and Emma talked on and on about teaching, as if I wasn’t even there. And I was wrong about the house Kay and her teacher friends are living in just outside New Denver. It’s so old the plumbing doesn’t work and they still have to use outhouses!
Sunday, December 20
No church again today. Mama said she’d rather try to go at Christmas.
Tuesday, December 22
I saw Alex this morning and introduced him to Nora. She says he’s a nice boy but thinks his father’s bushy beard is scary! I wished Alex a Merry Christmas and gave him an origami crane I’d folded from some nice paper I’ve been saving. He wished me a Merry Christmas too and gave me another apple he polished on his sleeve!
Wednesday, December 23
Last day of school before Christmas. Classes will still be held next week, though. Emma’s determined her pupils will catch up on their school year.
There’s a full moon over the lake tonight. And I heard something howling in the distance when I dashed to the outhouse. Papa put the bacon we’re keeping under the cabin in a big senbei tin to make sure we don’t attract any unwanted animals!!
Friday, December 25
Yester
day Harry and I had naps so we could go to midnight mass. Corporal Sayers picked the five of us up and drove us to St. Anthony’s, where we met Mike and Kay.
It was good being with most of my family again, but I prayed for my friends and relatives scattered all over. I’m not sure Buddhists go to heaven but I prayed for Geechan anyway. After his sermon, Father Clement wished us peace and joy and that’s what I really felt this year.
And now it’s Christmas. Our little cabin is a long way from Oxford Street, but Kay and Mike stayed overnight so we’d be together.
We lost so much in the past year. Our home, our friends, our dog, our belongings, Geechan. But I’m so grateful because Papa is finally back with us and safe.
1943
Friday, January 1
A quiet New Year’s Day. Mike and Kay stayed in New Denver with their friends. Harry and I read books all afternoon. Emma kept busy preparing her lessons, Mama sewed and Papa fixed the kitchen shelf that fell down on Boxing Day. It started snowing again this afternoon. I hope this new year will be a good one! It can’t be worse than last year.
Sunday, January 3
Too much snow to go to St. Anthony’s today, so I said a prayer of thanks to have most of my family back.
Wednesday, January 13
Last Wednesday there was even MORE snow. I need some new books to read. And I’ll need a new diary soon — not much room left here to write.
The Rosebery store is running low on supplies. The snow let up a bit, so Papa and I walked to New Denver yesterday to visit the shops for food — not much selection there either.
But more snow today — several inches. Emma finally had to close the school. It’s so cold and there’s not even enough wood for everyone’s heating stoves. And it’s harder than ever to fetch water!
Thursday, January 14
Snow and more snow. Another FOOT fell today. We could barely get out of our cabin this morning, even to visit the outhouse! It’s colder than ever and tonight we’re all huddled around the stoves. We’re using up all our wood, so we hope Johnny brings more soon!
Sunday, January 17
Couldn’t get to church. The road to New Denver is blocked off. Harry and I stumbled down to the lake, looking for driftwood. Everybody else must have had the same idea because we didn’t find any.
Vancouver was NEVER this cold and snowy. How on earth does the Commission expect us to keep warm here?
Friday, January 22
It’s so cold the water pipe’s frozen. We’ve got to melt snow for water or else break the ice to get some from the lake. Every morning now we wake up to frost on the blankets. It’s like living in another century! I hate being a pioneer.
We’re running low on vegetables and meat too. And there’s no mail either — Johnny said the road’s completely snowed in between New Denver and Kaslo. He’s been busy rounding up young men and teenage boys to work at the sawmill because wood is desperately needed. That’s where Mike and his friends have gone now.
Sunday, January 24
Porridge for supper tonight.
Monday, January 25
Porridge again, for breakfast and supper. For lunch, Mama made okayu with leftover cold rice. If the snow doesn’t stop soon, we won’t have any food left. And we’re running low on wood again. There’s no more room to write here. Maybe I should burn this diary for fuel! Last year was so terrible, it may help me forget what happened to us.
But I should remember my Guide pledge and “smile under difficulty.” I’ll try my best to be like Sachi and think positively.
Geechan would expect that of me.
Epilogue
Mary did not burn her diary after all. Emma was able to persuade her to keep it to remember the good things that happened, as well as the bad.
Although the winter of 1942–43 was one of the worst ever in the Slocan Valley, the snow and cold gradually stopped. By the end of February, the schools in Rosebery and New Denver reopened. Spring arrived and families put in gardens and spent more time outdoors. Mary’s father used some of Geechan’s seeds he’d saved from Oxford Street. More people brought Mrs. Kobayashi sewing jobs. Mary’s sisters worked well into July to make up for their students’ lost time. And even while busy teaching, Emma completed her senior matriculation through correspondence courses.
In June, taps were installed throughout The Orchard, one for each group of eight or nine cabins, so the Yamasakis didn’t have to walk to the village for water anymore. Eventually, cold water was piped right into all the cabins in the Slocan camps. The Orchard’s ofurō was built, though Mary and her sisters detested using it. Electricity came to the cabins in the fall of 1943, much to Mrs. Kobayashi’s delight. Movies, concerts, bazaars and school presentations took place at New Denver’s old Bosun Hall. Mike’s gramophone and records were finally put to good use at the dances held there.
Harry thrived and didn’t fall sick during those hard winter months. He enjoyed school, made new friends and learned to swim in Slocan Lake. Mary and Nora took Emma’s advice and did Grade Nine correspondence courses, but were still able to swim, hike and explore their beautiful surroundings. Mary used her camera regularly, but Corporal Sayers never did a thing about it! She used her Guide training to pick fiddleheads in the spring, berries in summer and mushrooms with her father in the fall. She and Nora made numerous friends among the many young people living in the camps.
Throughout spring and summer, the gardens flourished and the community no longer relied on the Doukhobors to supplement their food supply. Mary did not see Alex regularly anymore. But she did meet him once more that summer on the shortcut between Rosebery and New Denver. He kept his promise and showed her the best spots for picking huckleberries.
In August Mr. Kobayashi found a job at the drugstore in New Denver and the family moved again to a real house in town. Mary was thrilled to have indoor plumbing again! In September Emma joined Kay as a teacher in The Orchard while Mary and Nora started Grade Ten at the newly opened Notre Dame High School in the village.
The following winter, cabins were insulated with tarpaper and cedar shakes to keep out the cold and drafts, but the previous year’s harsh weather did not reoccur. Electricity and piped-in water made life easier. And the shops were well stocked with Japanese food.
In Toronto, Tad tried to enlist again — without success. He continued to drive a truck delivering newspapers, and wrote frequently to persuade his family to come east. Early in 1944, Mike was the first to leave New Denver, since Japanese Canadians were encouraged to depart if they could find employment outside B.C. He and Johnny moved into the same Toronto boarding house as Tad; both quickly found work.
In the summer of 1944, Kay and Emma also left for Toronto. Kay worked as a seamstress in a dress shop owned by a Jewish family, while Emma became a maid for a wealthy couple in Rosedale. The Jewish community often helped displaced Japanese Canadians from B.C. by offering them work or finding them places to live. Emma applied to nursing school and when she was accepted that fall, she began her studies in earnest.
In January 1945, Ottawa finally allowed a limited number of Japanese Canadians to join the army as translators. Tad, Mike and Johnny immediately signed up to begin basic training in Brantford, Ontario. That summer they returned to Vancouver for additional instruction in the Canadian Intelligence Corps. But before they were sent overseas, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, killing at least one hundred thousand people. A second bomb fell on the city of Nagasaki on August 9, killing about seventy thousand more. Mary was saddened to realize that many of Geechan’s family still living there would not have survived. Japan surrendered on September 2. While a few Nisei reached southeast Asia before that, the army dismissed the remaining recruits the following year.
Mr. and Mrs. Kobayashi, Mary and Harry left New Denver in August 1945. With the help of money that Tad, Mike and Kay had saved, Mr. Kobayashi bought a house in Toronto. Its yards were smaller than Oxford Street and Mary’s room
had no mountain view, but it soon became home. Mary began Grade Twelve in September and eventually graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in English Literature. Inspired by her sisters’ dedication in the camps, she too became a teacher. She later married Bob Endo, whom she’d met in New Denver, and had two daughters.
Tad, Mike and Johnny returned to Toronto in August 1946. Soon after, Kay married Johnny; they had three sons. Emma achieved her dream and became a nurse at Toronto’s St. Joseph’s Hospital. Harry finished high school, then graduated from the University of Toronto’s Forestry program and found a job with a lumber company. He was the only Kobayashi to return to Vancouver, where he married and had five children.
Torn Apart Page 12
