Chie Abe & Denis Graham Page - 2

Chie Abe & Denis Graham
Page - 2


My father was in Korea during the same time as Kiyoko. Whether they ever saw each other is anybody's guess. For all anyone knows, he could have been the soldier who lifted her into the truck. It would make a great story, but is highly unlikely. At any rate, it is ironic that they were both far away from home and in the same area while Chie and I were both developing inside our mothers, and would one day marry.


Denis - age 1 year

Almost exactly three months after Kiyoko gave birth to Chie, my mother, Ethelene, gave birth to me in the little town of Fort Scott, Kansas. The date was May 5, 1946. I was named Denis, after actor Dennis Morgan.

There is no story of special interest connected to my birth or my mother's pregnancy. However, I have always prided myself and been complemented on my memory. And, so the story goes, I remember the moment of my conception.

Whenever the subject of my memory comes up, I like to say that I remember being conceived in a cemetery near where my mother lived, and that I even remember the name on the tombstone. The truth of the matter, however, is that I don't really remember the name on the tombstone (grin).

In reality, my parents were nowhere around Fort Scott when I was conceived. My father was stationed at Camp Maxie in Paris, Texas and my mother was visiting him there at the time of my conception. And, I doubt this great historic event ever took place in a cemetery.

Like Chie, my father was not present when I was born. He returned from Korea in October, when I was five months old. He resumed his job with the Frisco Railroad and we remained in Fort Scott another six or seven months before moving to Kansas City, Kansas.

Meanwhile, in August, Chie and her family had moved to Mizusawa, where her father began working on a new dam project in northern Japan. They remained there three years before returning to Fukuoka. Kiyoko and the children remained in Fukuoka while Chie's father, Shyoji, worked for awhile in Okinawa. During the Korean War, Shyoji and his family lived in Kokura. Shyoji was drinking heavily, fought with his bosses, and eventually lost his position as an engineer because of his political beliefs. In 1954, Kiyoko and Shyoji separated, and she moved herself and children back to Fukuoka into her parent's home.

This separation was not solely because of Shyoji's loss of work. Shyoji was becoming an alcoholic, abusive to his wife, and was an active Communist. In 1955, Kiyoko divorced Shyoji Shin, and had her and her children's names legally changed back to her family name of Abe. To support her family, Kiyoko opened a dress shop in Fukuoka.


Chie in late 1946

Denis on Metropolitan - 1951

During these years, I and my family were living in Kansas City, Kansas. My father had bought a home for us on Metropolitan Avenue, facing the Kansas River, in 1947. Dad had finished his apprenticeship with the Frisco Railroad and began working for the company in Kansas City. My brother, James was born July 31, 1949 and we were living on Metropolitan during the great flood of 1951.

We sat on our front porch and saw houses floating down the river during the flood. Much of Kansas City was devastated by the flood of July 1951, and the waters rose to within a block and a half of our home. Normally having four directions in which we could leave the neighborhood, we were reduced to one.

Although Kansas City was a big and modern city in those days, it was much different than it is today, and we didn't have the modern conveniences we take for granted now. In the kitchen, we had an ice-box, and I mean ice-box, not a refrigerator. It wasn't electric. To keep things cool, a block of ice had to be bought every few days and placed in the ice-box. An "Ice-Man" drove through the neighborhood nearly every day. If you needed ice, you placed a sign in the widow that said Ice, and he would stop and deliver you a new block of ice. When we first moved to Kansas City, this delivery man drove a horse-drawn wagon, only later was it a truck.

Although we did have a car, Kansas City had a great public transportation system, which consisted of electric streetcars. They ran on railroad type tracks, with a rod that reached overhead to its power line. And since there were no suburbs at that time, there were no such things as shopping malls. If one wanted to go shopping you'd drive or take the streetcar to downtown Kansas City, Kansas or Missouri.

We did have an electric clothes washer. However, all it did was agitate. Clothes had to be rung out and rinsed by hand, two or three times to get all the soap out. They were then hung outside on a line to dry. And since there was no such thing as permanent-press, clothes then had to be ironed. Wash day was an all day affair, and was done at least twice a week, weather permitting, since all but the ironing was done outside.

Instead of trash being picked up, it was burned. We had a 55 gallon drum in which trash was burned. However, since this was a dangerous procedure in the city, this practice soon came to an end and regular trash service began.

We did enter the new techological age, however, in the case of television. We were among the first people in the city to acquire this new form of entertainment. The year was 1949, and there was only one station, channel 4, WDAF-TV. At first, nothing came on untill noon, and we would sit in front of our set watching the test pattern until the day's programing began. What we saw in those days were puppet shows, boxing and wrestling, variety shows, silent movies and westerns. Howdy Doody, Hopaling Cassidy, and Lash LaRue were boyhood favorites. Only later did situation comedies come along such as My Little Margie, I Love Lucy, and The Life of Riley.

Although I had a dog in Fort Scott, the first pet I remember was a dog named Mickey, which I got when I was two years old. He was a black and white rat terrier, and was my constant companion. But Mickey got sick when I was five and had to be put to sleep. My parents simple told me that he went away, and for a long time I waited for Mickey to return often with tears in my eyes.

After the 1951 flood, I began attending Kindergarten at Franklin school, a block away, where I also attended first grade. Also like Chie's parents, my parents had problems. Dad was working for TWA by this time, and my mother began seeing another man. My brother, Terry, was born February 17, 1953, and the following summer Mom took my brothers and myself and left with this man for California.

I guess things didn't work out between them, for by the end of summer we returned to Kansas City and my parents got back together. The following year, Dad bought a home at 4902 Alma in Kansas City, and my sister, Karen, was born August 25, 1955.

Previous Page E-Mail:
[email protected]
Next Page

Return to Senzo Home Page