Westward. Encounters with Swiss American Women
And what about her free time? “On Saturday evenings a friend invited me to a juicy steak for $4.95. And in the few weeks when I didn’t have courses or exams, I visited my mother in Switzerland.” From the beginning Rosa had the goal to get to know one new person every day. “Sometimes I succeeded. I was alone, but not lonely. You cannot expect that people approach you first. I always found my way.” And then her being alone suddenly was over.
“Edmund Schupbach was my coworker at Caltex, an accountant and very shy. I had noticed him for some time already, but he made no move until he invited me for dinner in January of 1967.” Again and again they went out together. “At first we kept it a secret in the office.” In April it was clear to Rosa – “he is the one.”
During the semester break at the end of 1967 they were married on the campus of Columbia University. “Ed Schupbach was a New Yorker and despite his name had no Swiss roots. He and I scraped together all our savings and bought an apartment for 34,000 dollars on 74th Street between 5th and Madison Avenue, not far from Central Park.”