Wednesday, December 1, 2010

World AIDS Day 2010

 
This day is not a cause or a movement or a day of education to me. This is my personal Memorial Day. My life as an adult was shaped by the spectre of AIDS and HIV. Many of the people who taught me American Sign Language were taken by AIDS. Ambassadors, all. Generous, funny, young handsome men. My best friend and soul mate was taken by this disease. Many others I have known and many who never told me they were sick have lost their lives in the battle.  This is Memorial Day for me.  

Tony Kushner said it best in "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches":
"This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all and the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living, and we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come. Bye now. You are fabulous creatures, each and every one. And I bless you: More life. The Great Work Begins." 
In loving memory of Roby Starns, Chris Roper, Dean Cannavino, Alan, and Dan. You are not forgotten.

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