The Loss of My Ethnicity - James Lichtenwalner

The Loss of My Ethnicity chronicles the struggles encountered by the D'Onofrio family, Alfonso and Maria Vincenza and their decendants.  The story starts in the rural Abruzzo region of Italy in the late 19th Century to modern day life in America.  It also provides a look at the part of the family that stayed behind and how they evolved.  The overiding story shows the gradual erosion of the family's ethnic culture, the realization of the loss and the desire by decendants to ressurect the heritage that is now all but lost.  The book provides some background on why Alfonso and Maria left their first born as well as the rest of their extended family in Italy and ventured into the unknown that was America.  It goes on to describe the struggles to establish a new family in a new world evolving from an Italin family in rural Italy to an Italian family in an Italian ghetto in America to first generation Americans trying to shed their ethnic stigma eventually realizing that their heritage was more important than they initially thought and finally evolves into an attempt to ressurect and preserve the family's ethnic roots..  The storyline in supported by many vignettes that describe situations encountered by the family (some comical, some tragic) as they struggle forward.  Although the story is based on an Italian family, it applies to most all European families that ventured to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  In fact, some of the same struggles still exist as a new wave of immigrants tries to find the good life in 21st century America.