 |
| Thee House on Soto Street |
Until a few weeks ago my mother had not seen this house since she left it or at least that's how she remembers it. Either way it has been a very long time since she has seen this house. She has spoken of it often but this was the first time I had seen this house.
We had just come back from having lunch at Phillipe's in downtown L.A. when we decided to look for the house. It took just a few minutes to locate. The very instant she saw the house I could see the memories passing by in my mother's eyes. The landlords were a Jewish family that lived next door, an Irish family lived across the street and a Japanese family lived up the street. They opened a small grocery store nearby. The daughter of the Japanese family was my mom's best friend.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor the family was taken to a interment camp, most likely Manzanar. Everything was taken from this family, their home, the store, all of their personal belongings. As my mother remembers it, as they were loading the family onto a truck, neighbors were looting the house for anything of value. She remembers several men carrying out a large piano. She never saw her friend again.
Still, she had lots of good memories from that home and that neighborhood. The house is weathered now by the years. A stone facade and a fence have been added but it remains, more or less, the same. The upstairs window over looking the street was her bedroom. The look on her face and the sound of her voice as she was looking at the house and remembering was priceless.
The other two photos are of the two schools she attended; Hollenbeck Junior High (now called middle school) and Roosevelt High School.
 |
| Hollenbeck Middle School |
 |
| Roosevelt High School |
No comments:
Post a Comment