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Elaine Mariko Okamura was the sixth of seven children born to her parents in Honolulu, Hawai'i. She tells of her father, who left Japan to find his father in Hawai'i, and her mother who was born in Kauai but was sent to Japan as a five-year-old to care for her grandmother. Her father owned the only grocery store in their area, and she recalls him doing his calculations on the abacus. Elaine's knowledge of Japanese helped her to become a stewardess for the Pacific Rim for Pan American Airlines.