 “Beam me up, Scotty!”  "Look, mom, I got my name on a building!" Factoid: To signify the birth of a new building, Scandinavian iron workers, as early as 700 AD, placed a small tree atop the last beam before hoisting it into place On April 26, in heightened anticipation, an estimated 100 invitees gathered to celebrate the final beam destined for Washington Commons. Painted white for signing by owners and builders, the steel beam would, suitably, go up in the elevator shaft. (Imagine all those proud little iron atoms buzzing around, giggling the way iron atoms do, making jokes. “Beam me up, Scotty!”) Factoid: Captain Kirk never said ”Beam me up, Scotty.” (No lie. Look it up.) For an ‘uplifting’ event, Washington Commons takes the taco (you had to be there). What a day! What a party! Anne, emotionally overcome, got teary. “It really was a profound day of love and appreciation for the construction workers and our professional team—and for what we are creating.” Hard-hats off to our highly regarded construction superintendent John Randall. A construction superintendent from another MarketOne project attended our beam-signing just to see what John was up to. A MarketOne safety supervisor told Fran how proud he was that our building is going up so quickly. “And smoothly! No accidents, zero injuries!” Chris, rising to the occasion to thank several construction workers, noted a pleased but bemused response. “It was probably a first for them! But such an upbeat atmosphere of inclusiveness! Everyone eating, gabbing, laughing, and signing the beam together, so energetic and happy.” High-fives to the Social Team for topping expectations! Seeing everyone sign the beam overwhelmed Jenny. “This ceremony was an amazing way to celebrate our construction workers, UDP, investors, and Washington Commons members. I loved it!” she said, giving a shout-out to Bea, Carol, Lisa, Patrick, and Sandra. “And thanks to Nancy for the Oak Tree! And Cathy and Danny for helping plan the party! Plus Sarah from MarketOne for coming up with tables, chairs, and delicious food!” Carol’s reaction: “Wonderful beyond belief! Just a delight to break bread (fabulous Mexican feast!) and thank so many individuals involved in our project. So inclusive! Construction crew, office workers, title company and bank officials—a once-in-a-lifetime experience!“ Summing up, Stu felt the beam signing enlarged his and Willa’s appreciation for their 6-year-long journey. ”It is not just members’ money purchasing a building. Our building is people: construction workers, bankers, lenders, friends, relatives. To see them come together and sign the beam expanded our notion of who is creating this better way to live. It’s not only the future residents!” “Future residents meeting the workers building their homes is unusual,” agreed Danny. “And wonderful!” she added, beaming. Factoid: Iron is found not only on earth but in the sun and stars.  "Captain, it is highly illogical to place a Valley Oak atop this beam."
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Our most recent members, Terri and Laura, are both graduates of WCC's first Explorer University. Terri, who had been an explorer at WCC in 2021, stayed in contact, returned for Explorer U, and became a full member after completing the minimum 30 days. Laura, a California native, had also tested the Cohousing water and couldn't wait to dive in.  Laura Hello, I'm Laura, a 60-year old divorced woman. I retired early after a 33-year career with AT&T. I moved to Cotati CA in 2016 after living in Durango CO and Alameda CA. I became interested in co-housing after hearing about it from one of my meditation buddies when I lived in Alameda. I’ve toured many of the communities in the East Bay and North Bay and I’m very interested in moving to Washington Commons. I subletted at a co-housing community last year, for 2.5 months, in order to see if I enjoyed living in community, and I loved it. It just solidified how co-housing is the right path for me. I had been on the waitlist for two communities, but I have found that once people move into co-housing they never leave 😊. I had a chance to be on the common house committee when I was subletting, and I’ve stayed on the committee after I left, so I bring that experience to Washington Commons. My interests are movies, books, and meditation and I would love to talk to you about any of those things (I can talk about movies for hours). I’m an extrovert and I look forward to getting to know my future neighbors and doing the work to create our community connections before we all move in together.  Terri (Teresa)
"I was born in Detroit, raised in the (all white) suburbs, and escaped to Seattle as soon as I finished my undergraduate degree. I stayed for 15 years working in research labs at the University of Washington and co-parented a son who is all grown up now and settled in the Seattle area. I moved with my partner to Madison, WI, where we found a wonderful and welcoming community and I completed a PhD in the biology of cancer. In 1998 we moved to San Francisco where I continued as a cancer researcher at the UCSF Cancer Center. For the past 12 years I've been working at a small biotech company that is focused on developing genetically engineered viruses as a cancer therapy. I've experienced the ups and downs of the biotech industry, but I still love the science. Right now I'm part of a small team searching for funding to form a new spin-off company, which would be an amazing way to finish my career. (Broken record: I said the same thing 2 years ago, but this time we have more support and no COVID lockdown, though the current bank failures don't help). Outside of work I can count on my 19 year old son and almost 17 year old daughter to make me feel irrelevant and give me plenty of chances to practice my listening skills. In my free time I like to get outdoors; also reading, walking, biking, attending live music performances and playing softball. I've played in the SF Gay Softball League for ten years and hope to experience at least one more Gay World Series. I've loved the concept of cohousing since I first read about it 25 years ago." |
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