Читать книгу Westward. Encounters with Swiss American Women онлайн

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Marriage to Gustav Durrer was a long, happy and fascinating chapter in Margot’s life. “We married late in life but were able to share forty-one years of our lives together. He was a very dear person, treating the cleaning lady the same as he would an ambassador to the UN. He always respected my work and was very understanding when I was called away at night or in the middle of dinner because of an emergency or the delivery of a baby. In exchange, I painfully typed out his lectures and papers on my old typewriter in those pre-word processor days. I never wanted to have children, but yes, I thoroughly enjoyed delivering a healthy screaming baby and handing it over to its mother for care. Although we each had our own profession, Gusti and I were partners – a team. To share an active life together was the greatest gift that I could ever have had.”

And then she smiles: “I never looked very much in the mirror. However, shortly after we were married, Gusti said to me: ‘What are we going to do about our hair?’ I looked him straight in the eye and said: ‘We are not going to do anything about our hair.’ Later, I compromised by getting a wig but this, of course, was never worn.”