It’s that last day of November, wow has this month flown by! It feels like just yesterday it was early September. It’s raining here in Maine and it’s cold. I am just thankful that it’s not snowing! I know that snow is inevitable but the longer we go without it the happier I am.
I’m off from work today and not positive of what my day has in store just yet. It’s very early and I just got up about an hour ago. Yes, I am a very early riser! My body just won’t allow me to sleep past 5am. Sleep is overrated in my opinion anyway. I feel like I am wasting time if I sleep too long in the mornings.
I have been watching the news reports of Trumpy’s cabinet choices and nominations. It’s been a virtual who’s who of straight white men parading across his golden carpet. Sickening to think that the alt-right is going to gain so much MORE power in our country. It angers me and makes me want to find a group of like minded people around my area to gather and discuss strategies for us all to be of support to each other and to react to the outrage I am sure is yet to come. I feel the real need to be prepared to protect myself and others from things I can only imagine are in store for us all.
Tomorrow is World AIDS Day 2016 around the globe. The theme this year is Hands Up for #HIVPrevention. I was reading that the new push for self-testing will help to give people better access to testing and information on accessing treatment and prevention. I don’t know about self testing…mitt seems to me that having a test done by someone who understands the ramifications should that person test positive. And taking someone with you when you get test results is a good idea. I went alone 25 years ago. I remember it like it was outlast week. It was the day I felt like I had an expiration date stamped on my forehead. I didn’t hear mush after the woman who told me I was positive told me. I started immediately to think of how I was going to ever tell my girlfriend and my loved ones. And I asked for a retest on the spot. I had to make sure that there was no mistake. But there was no mistake and I have been living with this virus in my blood for over 25 years now. In the first few years I did a lot of outreach and prevention work trying to get others to not make my mistake and to protect themselves. Nowadays I keep up on thing and concentrate on keeping myself healthy and happy with my second chance at life. Before the availability of the medications that I take every day to stay healthy and virtually HIV free, I lost a lot of friends to AIDS. At the height of the epidemic there was no good oh gmail like there is today. If only we had moved faster when this started they might all still be alive. I’m one of the lucky ones. I managed to stay alive, suffer through many failed treatment options and live to see this day where we now have the potent drugs needed to sustain a healthy life living with HIV.
SO…I am truly thankful for my life and for all of the support I have in it. I feel like I am certainly blessed in so many ways. Tomorrow I will pause to remember those who weren’t so lucky and those who we have lost, but I will also remember that this fight isn’t over until we find a cure and make it accessible to all of those who need it. I shall light a candle of remembrance. And I will thank God for giving me a second chance and a chance to make a difference in the world.
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