Love & Marriage

In the early 50s, J.A. Luzader was a young sailor stationed at Pearl Harbor, during the Korean War. I forgot what Mom said about how they met, but they did. J.A was 6’2”, and Mom was a slightly porky 4’11”. They dated, fell in love, and then like many local girls during World War II and the Korean War, Mom married a sailor. Eloise Mae Lee and J.A. Luzader got married in a Catholic Church in Wahiawa on April 4, 1951.

After the war ended, Dad was stationed in Alameda County, Oakland, so Mom moved to the mainland to be with her husband. Living in the Naval Housing while her husband was on the ship most of the time, wasn’t easy for a young wife. Mom’s only friends were the other Navy wives in the housing.

Being Asian in the early 1950s made it even more challenging. Remember, this is right after two wars against the Japanese and the Koreans, so Asians were not the most popular people on the mainland. Once in a while, Mom would talk about the prejudice, but it was so long ago she would just laugh about it. Mom even had to deal with prejudice from Hazel, her mother-in-law. Hazel was not yet ‘comfortable’ with her only child marrying a Chinese girl. But what could Mom do?  She just put up with it.

On the other hand, Mom liked Alvin, her father-in-law, right away. Mom said he always treated her as a daughter, looking out for her. There was so much Mom had to deal with as a young Navy wife.  Mom was alone most of the time. She was far away from friends and family, living in a place where Asians were not welcomed. All that changed when Mom became a mother.

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