Oswald Norton

Judy Bordeaux's touching stories tell of her life growing up in Eastern Washington, and the lives of her great grand parents, her emigrant grand parents, parents and siblings as they negotiated the racial biases of the 1800's through the 1960's. It is a story of strength, love and a determination to be the best person you can, even in the face of bigotry. Judy's grandfather, Rehei Akahoshi, came to the US from Japan in the 1870s, hoping to experience for himself American ideals and opportunity he'd learned about in his country. Instead he found prejudice and racism. Still he persevered. He met Gertrude Engvall, who'd come to the US from Sweden. They worked at the same restaurant. They fell in love and married, even though illegal at the time. Their love and determination to succeed, created a family life that helped their children flourish. Out of such an environment came Judy's father, Wally. Her stories of the struggles and successes of her parents and grand parents, and, her own made me laugh and cry. But mostly, made me want to tell everyone to find and buy a copy of this book for their very own as a reminder of the good people living among us and the stories they could tell us if we'd only ask, and listen.