Enchanting Swiss Journal: Part 4: Friends and Colleagues. A Return to Aarberg

Old City Wall of Aarberg

Immediately upon my retirement, Esther and I spent a year in Switzerland. We lived in Aarberg, a unique town with beautifully preserved downtown. Esther worked with a home health care agency while I worked on various speaking assignments. Needless to say, we made numerous friends during this year whom we wanted to visit. So we took a trip to our old Swiss stomping ground.

Since we left Aarberg around five years ago, a lot of changes have taken place. Between the apartment building and the next one behind us, a brand-new apartment building had been erected. The same was true of the apartment building next to us. Land in Switzerland is precious as are living spaces. I'm glad, however, that these new buildings hadn't yet been built while we were there. From our balcony, we could probably see right into the neighbor's living room.

Another change was a brand-new building housing the Prisag home health care offices and apartments for elderly. Peter Stucki, the man who owned the Prisag agency and who hired Esther to work as a home health care aid, built it.  

First up on our visit was breakfast with our former landlady, Christina, and the elderly woman (Heidi) she lived with and cared for. They were living in the new Prisag building, so we got to see it for the first time. Christina also invited several of our friends to meet with us. Some were from the Methodist Church in Aarberg, some were from the home health care agency. 

It was sad to see how much Heidi had deteriorated mentally since we had lived there five years ago. She really couldn't remember us, except that she kept staring at me as if she had seen a ghost. Perhaps she had a dim memory of me, because once when we had visited her she commented to Esther that if I weren't married, she'd make a pitch for me. 

Esther in her Prisag uniform

Sonia, from the Methodist church was also there. She remembered seeing me frequently at the café attached to the COOP supermarket chain. I recalled a time when she sat down to chat for a little bit. When she asked what I was doing, I told her I was preparing for a presentation on spiritual formation. Suddenly, unexpectedly, I became her confessor as she poured out all her many hurts in relationships. Tears flowed copiously. All I did was listen. I hope I was able to be a non anxious presence to her.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to politics. One of the women wanted to know how it was possible that someone like Donald Trump could be elected as president of the USA. It seemed incomprehensible to them, and to almost everyone I met in Switzerland. I had no answer. 

More fun than the political discussion was catching up on other friends who weren't at the breakfast and reminiscing about times we spent together: Bible studies at Peter Stucki's headquarters, Tazié services at the Reformed Church and walks along the Aare River.

The view from Meikirch

We had to finish our conversation quickly, because we were soon to meet more of Esther's co-workers in the nearby town of Bremgarten. The trip took us up over the Frienisberg hill to our favorite lookout near Meikirch (see picture above). The white-capped, iconic Alps, Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau were visible here.

Four of Esther's co-workers met us in a restaurant for lunch. Esther and I were stuffed from our recent breakfast, so we both ordered salads. Her colleagues ordered pizza, the daily menu (usually the most economical meal featuring a typical Swiss meat and potatoes meal), and pasta with various sauces. I am a pasta lover, and was deeply tempted to order some, but stuck with the salad. 

The conversation centered around clients that Esther had taken care of, and how disappointed they were when she left. In fact, her co-workers were really convinced that she would return because of this. It was also evident to me that she was beloved by her co-workers. Neither was surprising since I knew of how appreciated she was with her similar job in the USA. 

We broke up our party and returned to our home base in Worb. We had completed the first week in Switzerland, but because of the intensity and frequency of our visits, it seemed like a month.