Single in America

By A. Natalie Gora

Anastasia-Natalie Gora was born in one of the most beautiful Mediterranean countries in the world, Greece. Her father was a track-and-field athlete, and her mother a housewife. She doesnt have any siblings. All her studies have been completed in Greece.
She is a former flight attendant, and her last job was an employee for the Ministry of Education in Greece.
She is divorced for twenty-two years from one marriage, and she has one child. Iris, her daughter, is her beloved child, who started to fly overseas when she was two months old. She is a marine biologist, and she pursues further studies in Australia.
Natalie Gora published many novels in Greek magazines. She started writing when she was fifteen years old. She loves to express herself through her manuscripts.
She lives in Southern California, Dana Point, next to the ocean for over twenty-five years. She is proud to be an American.
She loves hiking, swimming, ballroom dancing, classical music, and people.
She had to create her own borders and her own path in this country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465357557

A. Natalie Gora

Anastasia-Natalie Gora was born in one of the most beautiful Mediterranean countries in the world, Greece. Her father was a track-and-field athlete, and her mother a housewife. She doesn’t have any siblings. All her studies have been completed in Greece. She is a former flight attendant, and her last job was an employee for the Ministry of Education in Greece. She is divorced for twenty-two years from one marriage, and she has one child. Iris, her daughter, is her beloved child, who started to fly overseas when she was two months old. She is a marine biologist, and she pursues further studies in Australia. Natalie Gora published many novels in Greek magazines. She started writing when she was fifteen years old. She loves to express herself through her manuscripts. She lives in Southern California, Dana Point, next to the ocean for over twenty-five years. She is proud to be an American. She loves hiking, swimming, ballroom dancing, classical music, and people. She had to create her own borders and her own path in this country.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by A. Natalie Gora.

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4653-8768-4

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4653-5754-0

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4653-5755-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

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Contents

6-17-07

6-23-07

6-29-07

Permanent Establishment

A New Man in My Life

My Mom’s Death

Oktoberfest Fun

Visiting My Friend Back East

Past and History

Almost a Tragic Accident

Life, Compromising

Hollywood Influence

Handy Tips

Positive Attitude

My Trip to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco

Wedding Bells

Where Is My Home?

Author Biography

I dedicate this book to Iris-Elektra Krehahn

and friends—Pedro, Karin and Reinhard, Baiba, Heinz, Minton,

Aurelia, Bob Millspaugh, Richard, Gunter, Daniel, Rita, Nouli, Dora,

Farhat, Maria, and the list goes on.

office1.tifoffice2.tif

6-17-07

We are flying above LA. Ladies and gentlemen, we will land soon, in fifteen minutes. I turned my face to the window. The view was incredible. Millions of lights, everything flat, the center of the world! LA and Hollywood! I had never seen so many lights in my life. Let me make a wish, I whispered to myself. I wanna stay here forever!

It was 1986. I was flying there to meet my boyfriend who was a German American established in California forever! I met him through an ad in a Greek magazine. We had correspondence for six months; he visited me in Greece and invited me to California.

It was a fairy tale for me! I had to quit my job. I was working for the European community stationed in Greece. I started to make plans on how I can get some of my work benefits so I can stay in California. I had no siblings, only my parents, at the time. I was in love with Karl, and I guess he was too. We got married in Greece, and after two years, I was ready to come to America. The people are so friendly in California, I used to say to everybody! Well, Natalie, we wish you all the best but do not be in a hurry to judge so soon. They are not so friendly, this is the facade, some people told me. They worked on their PhDs in America. Needless to say, nothing negative could get through me!

Here I was! In California!

The first week was magic. I stayed for a long time in the pool, cooked a little bit, but had no people to associate with! The ladies who came to congratulate me, promising that I will talk to you later, never called and never talked to me again. I also noticed that there were no pedestrians on the streets.

In Europe, the people walk a lot. The distances are small; there is always a downtown with cafes outside. The people are there! Not so single!

6-23-07

Well, Natalie, I hope you will not have a breakdown, after all— I looked at him and I started crying! It was my pool man, Basil, servicing our pool every week. He was an older gentleman with a warm personality. I usually offered him a cup of coffee with cookies so we could talk!

It did not take me long to figure out that the LA lights could not help me