Birds of a Feather

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Sep 29, 2014

What does community mean to you?

I’m asking my visitors to respond to this question, as I have changed my blog format to include a place to comment on my news and updates. I would really appreciate your help in testing it. I’m also very interested, of course, in hearing your thoughts about LGBT community and what that means to each of you, as Birds of a Feather is still growing and developing!

My thoughts of creating community began many, many years ago when my dear friend, Rhonda, at age 34, began calling me almost daily with real estate listings for old mansions for sale in Minneapolis. She was “obsessed” with the idea of buying a mansion and creating a lesbian “retirement” home! My response was always... “but, Rhonda, we’re only in our mid-thirties... we’re too young!

Rhonda passed away suddenly in 1988 at age 35. I knew then why she was so adamant about wanting to begin creating her dream retirement community at such an early age. My friend, Rhonda was gone, but she had successfully planted “the seed” of creating community in my mind!

 I was a partner in an investment banking/brokerage firm at the time. We sold our firm in 1994 and that is when I began to seriously consider the possibility of creating an LGBT community. I created a website to post surveys about where the community should be located and what was important to include in the community. I did focus groups. And, the results of both the surveys and focus groups led me to search for the perfect property in New Mexico.

 It took me a couple of years to finally find a magnificent 160 acre property in Pecos... a short distance from Santa Fe. I purchased the property in 2000... and the rest, they say, is history! It is not Rhonda’s vision of a mansion on a hill for lesbian retirement, but it is an LGBT safe haven created for people of like minds and interests to “age in place” together. You may read about my journey to create community, if you like, at the bottom of this blog. It has been a long and challenging journey, but worth every moment to see my dream become a reality! My thanks to Rhonda for planting the seed many years ago!

 

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