Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Send Us Thanksgiving Stories?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Oct 28, 2024, at 11:18 AM, Jane R. Mueller <jmueller [at] 
> wellchosenwords.net> wrote:
> 
> Since our community is not yet built, we are hoping you will let us tell your 
> stories. Would you be willing to share anecdotes? If so, please tell them 
> here and identify your location. If you have photos, you can send them 
> directly to me. We are very grateful!

Our first meal together was Thanksgiving dinner in one of the only completed 
units in 2000. “Completed” is used here rather broadly. A few units were 
conceptually completed—fixing things went on for some time. 

Half the community was still under construction and the common house was still 
off-limits. We scavenged tables from the people who had almost moved in and 
pushed them together down the middle of a 20-foot-long living room. Then we 
scavenged all kinds of seating objects around the edges and squeezed in 20-30  
deliriously happy people. Everyone must have brought their own plates and 
cutlery. 

It may be a fantasy but I remember three people sitting on one overstuffed 
chair — one in the seat and one on each arm.

The food was probably a combination of take-out and partly cooked off-site. I’m 
not sure those who had moved in had their kitchens working yet. We had just 
started closing on units. Half the property was still behind chain-link 
construction fences with guard dogs let loose at night. We didn’t have phones 
or anything so I’m not sure how we even organized ourselves.

I can still see the room, but the overwhelming impression of the image is of 
excitement caught on cameral as a blur as if all the participants are jumping 
up and down and bouncing side to side. The excitement was partly released 
tension because construction had been delayed several times many people had 
been living in temporary housing for a year or more. 
Thanksgiving was the first experience of feeling “This is happening!"

I’m glad you asked for this. I’ll circulate the message at Takoma Village to 
see if I can collect more specific memories of that day..

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org