Two Worlds; A Personal Journey

By Theodore D Lorenzana

This is a memoir, an immigrant success story. The book has two sections. The first is the life of the author with his family in America from immigration to retirement. The last section is about his years in the Philippines, from the early years growing up in his hometown until he immigrated. After graduating from college, encouraged by his sister living in America, he immigrated to the new world. He settled in New York City and continued his engineering career. Life in America is about the challenges most immigrants experience in assimilating to the new society and the struggles to find a job and advance their career. He met his wife Ellen in New York, started a family, and then moved driving across the country to Southern California. He was tapped for engineering management and worked for several manufacturing companies until retirement. Life in California tells about the hardship experienced due to the loss of jobs several times as the industry cut back after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Theodore showed the path of perseverance and success. He shares the growing years of his two children, their time getting education and starting on their own as professionals. Both children married their high school friends. Each couple rewarded their parents two grandchildren. The author describes his religious journey from growing up in his church-oriented family, becoming active in the church as a member and leader. Unable to get logical and satisfactory answers to his theological questions, he became an agnostic. He is now retired and talks about his home projects and the time spent caring for his grandchildren a few days a week. He travels with his wife to places he missed while working, the benefits of retired life. The last section is about life in his home country, the Philippines. The journey began in his rural town Tagudin in the Ilocos region where the rural areas gave him and his friends a place for adventures. Early years include stories about his parents and remembrances of his grandparents. Raised by a single mother, the family of five young children helped in the house chores, pursued education as their priority and closely observed their religious upbringing. An orphan at a young age, his experiences living in the shadow of his grandfather are told as anecdotes. World War II in Asia had a profound influence on his early life. The war disrupted his education and created sad and painful aftermath for his family. His narrative about life during the war, the struggles of the family in hiding and the loss of loved ones are in detail. In Manila he lived with a political couple, relatives in politics that gave him opportunities. Finishing college and the voluntary military training led to adult and professional life. After graduation he worked as an engineer and obtained his professional license. Not long after, he immigrated to America and started a new life. The appendix includes his grandfather's family and ministry, how his parents met, his mother's career and her second family, and a tribute to his famous Auntie Ave.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1494789752
• ISBN13: 9781494789756
• Release Date: July 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.7" x 5.5"