Schamikles, Jack

Hello Jack. It has been a few years, indeed. I befriended Jack in San Francisco in the early 80's. I saw him once packing up on Castro near States Street to move away from San Francisco and to move to Portugal with his Portuguese lover, Nobrega. We talked of moving from the US, and he was very enthusiastic about Portugal. A few years later I was living and working in London. Jack and Nobrega came by to visit me. Jack was a very tolerant and peaceful man, and I still have his notation in one of my diaries? Never let us become strangers of the heart. I didn't think I would never see him again when he left my London flat in 1985 ... he was off to Portugal and I was soon off to return to San Francisco. Jack, I looked for you in Portugal, but you were gone ... I did not want to become a stranger of the heart; and so here I sprinkle a little of it in the hopes of it reaching you ... out there. (Some years ago I walked up Castro Street near States and I saw some graffiti that had been left in the wet cement of the sidewalk: JACK & NOBREGA ... then recently I looked for it again, but the city of San Francisco had repaved the sidewalk and it was gone).

Dear Cousin I Haven't Met Yet, For years I thought I had family who changed the C to S in our surname name. This weekend I learned that a great grand uncle or great-great grand uncle ADDED an S to our original name, and I found you. The first time I visited San Francisco was in the summer of 1982; I wasn't out to others yet. I hope our paths physically overlapped in San Francisco as some of our spiritual paths seem to overlap. I found your AIDS Quilt Panel. I don't know if I was ever in the same place as your panel before, but I am deeply honored to have seen it today. Let us never become strangers of the heart. May we both spoke the same language of the heart also. You have inspired me to visit Portugal sooner rather than later and perhaps I can meet Nobrega's family and can find your place in Sintra. Jason Chamikles jchamikles@gmail.com Let us never become strangers of the heart.

Never let us become strangers of the heart. On what would have been your 78th birthday.