Inspiring Women SUMMER 2020

Team Event Planning Swiss Style
ANGIE AEBERSOLD
Member: American Women’s Club of Bern
From: Albany, Oregon Lives: Oberbalm,
near Bern, Switzerland
PATRICIA AEBY
Member: American Women’s Club of Bern
From: Austin, Texas Lives: Oberdorf, near
Bern, Switzerland
ANGIE: I grew up in Albany Oregon. My
parents divorced when I was about 10 and
we moved from a small town to a slightly
larger town. I spent all of my junior high and
high school life in Albany where the
Angie and Patricia at the 2015 FAWCO Conference in Rome population was about 32,000 when I was
growing up. I was a shy child, so once I
made friends, they have mostly stayed my friends until today even though I have lived the last
30 years in Switzerland.
My biggest impact from childhood that sticks with me until today is not a nice story. One night
when I was about 11, I was home alone and someone broke into the house and I was almost
raped. The bright side to this, a few weeks before in our PE class we had a self-defense course. I
was able to think and somehow get myself out of the situation. The trauma, yes there is trauma,
because it was so very extremely close, remains. It took years before I could stay by myself at
home at night, many years before I could go to sleep at night without a radio going and if I am
home alone all of the doors have to be locked. I survived; I lived a normal life at home until I
was 20, with a few quirks.
I met my husband, Tom, when he came to visit his host family one summer. We had a summer
affair and when he left to go home, I had thought, “Well I will never see him again”. But we kept
in contact, writing back and forth for a year to a year and a half. We decided I should visit him
in Switzerland. So, off I went to visit this guy I hardly knew, totally crazy! I planned to stay for 3
months and then go home. Well, we lasted 2½ months and then after a blow-up, I ended up
going home early thinking, “I will never see him again”. I was home for a week and he called
apologizing and we made plans for him and his mother to come visit for a couple of weeks in
summer. Then Tom came to study at Oregon State University in Corvallis for six months. After half
a year he went back to Switzerland with the plan that I would be coming for the summer to
Switzerland. I came for my 3-month summer vacation and ended up staying for 9 months. I
went home was very sad and unhappy, and made plans to go back to Switzerland. Within 3
months I had worked long enough and made enough money to go back to Switzerland. I
arrived in summer and we were married in December 1990. This year we will be celebrating our
30 th wedding anniversary.
PATRICIA: I was born in Queens, New York to Swiss immigrants. After completing hotel school in
Switzerland, my parents immigrated to the United States in the 60s so that my father could start
his career in the US hotel industry. As my father’s career took off, we ended up in Vermont,
Massachusetts, Toronto, Canada and Texas. Moving around all the time was quite difficult for
my sister and me during our formative years. Just when we thought we would stay in one place
for a while, we had to say goodbye to all our friends and our school and pack up to leave on
our next adventure.
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