This is forwarded by me from Teresa Sanmiguel
I first met Jay in 1970, in the funky chapel of the "Golden Dawn Christian Community" on Haight street. He often schlepped one or the other of us around in his little hand-operated station wagon, and quite a few of us learned -with Jay hanging on for dear life, his long hair streaming - how to negotiate his wheelchair on those steep hills and stairs. I was always amazed at his willingness to cheerfully submit to our learning curve! I remember more than one ride when he was wheeled to a screeching halt with a laugh and a "Whew!"
Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge one day, early in our friendship, I had been pondering whether or not to submit myself to the by laws of the CC that required people to have a full time job in order to join. I had a part time job that was sufficient for my needs and then some. I'm sure Jay was feeling a bit exasperated with my sidestepping, as he suddenly exclaimed , " Teresa! We need people to carry the Light NOW! You can be an artist later, or alongside, but we need you NOW!" He was right, of course, and the next morning at Communion I asked for a sign. Then I hopped on the bus to work, walked in the front door of the studio space I shared with 3 other designers, and one of the owners walked right up to me and said " hey, do you want a full time job?"
OK then. I jumped right in, and with John Hatgidakis at the helm as priest, and Jay, and about 40-50 other members, we created an entity that caused enormous growth in those of us who were paying attention, and made ripples into the community. Still on Haight street in the early stages, we opened the lobby for coffee hour a couple evenings a week. Sometimes interesting people dropped by, sometimes they stayed around. One evening, I was there handing out the snacks, with Jay and a couple of others. Joanna Hostetler may have been one of the group, don't remember. This group of people from some kind of fundamentalist church around the block came in and proceeded to "exorcise" us, praying loudly that the evil spirits leave the building. Then they turned around and walked out. Jay, in his inimitable nonplussed way, said "that worked!"
By 1976 the CC had moved to the corner of Carl and Parnassus, into an old bank building, and Jay had moved to the place on Bennett. In 1977 my daughter Simone was born and my partner and I were caught mid-move between Stinson Beach and a place we'd rented in Inverness, but last minute building inspections had hung us up. So Jay allowed us to move in with him for a couple of months. We were all still a close knit group, and Michelle Rogers, Terri Sisler, Joanna and I managed the kitchen and cleaning, and kept the coffee, tea, and cookies coming for a full load of people coming through on a daily basis. Jay was a people magnet. The music and the fireplace in winter kept everyone going. Simone, at 6 months, practiced walking holding on to Jay's wheelchair as he did laps up and down the hallway. ( the nude with the red hair still hanging there last time I was over was one of my paintings). One day I heard him bellowing from the kitchen "TERESA! come get yer kid!" I came flying from the other room to find him pulled into the fridge with the door wide open, and Simone planted on her little butt right behind him so he couldn't back out. Simone spoke her first word standing in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace - "HOT!"
The day my husband and my now 3 yr. old moved to Hawaii, we looked out the window of the car at our beloved dog, Nicholas, in Jay's arms, with John and Michelle Rogers, and their little boy Justice, standing by. The dog went to live with The Rogers. Not long after our move, Michelle and John were pretty much up in the Laytonville area, Terri had moved to England, the Teitlebaum's found their own place somewhere nearby in Marin, and Joanna became Tom Hostetler's wife. John Hatgidakis had been reassigned to Minneapolis - for some reason a place where we had always joked about as the outpost none of the priests in the order wanted to be sent.
The years that group of us spent together learning to work with the Light, and opening ourselves to the guidance of Oneness, were years of profound shifts for all of us. I'm grateful to have been part of it.
Aloha, and best wishes,
Teresa Sanmiguel