World AIDS Day

It is sad I didn't realize today was World AIDs Day until I read a post on FACEBOOK from HIV survivor and basketball great Magic Johnson. It is almost as if this disease was kind of forgotten about in my world. The majority of the folks I have blogged about in my blog have died from cancer. Cancer is the disease that has effected my family in recent years. It is like cancer has been the elephant in my room and AIDS has been covered up, hidden in a corner.

It shouldn't be hidden! It is not a disease which should be hidden or forgotten about. It is a dangerous disease which needs to be cured. In the main time people should take steps to protect themselves, test themselves, and help prevent the spread of AIDs. It is something that people shouldn't be made fun of for having, it is a medical condition, it is something that should be treated and folks with it should be strong and lifted up with love, prayers, and thought.

In my lifetime we lost a great singer and perhaps the greatest rock frontmen of all time in Freddie Mercury

I cover music, theater, sports and entertainment a world that has had its share of AIDs losses.

Magic Johnson is an example of someone living with HIV and making a difference...

And many have died in the the theater world. I was lucky enough to see Lonely Planet which dealt with the AIDs epidemic earlier this year. You can read that review here. Hopefully AIDs/HIV will be wiped out! One can hope.

A New Face To HIV

I grew up in the age of HIV and AIDS. Everyone knows it is out there. I'm fortunate that I don't have it. I was fortunate not to know anyone who has it or had it. However, I am not that fortunate now. I just found out earlier this week, an old friend of mine has HIV.

He was a friend I went to college with, a friend I haven't seen in 14 years. We live far apart. However, we live in a technological world. You can keep up with friends with e-mails, or group e-mails, and all kinds of web communities. Well I read my friends blog the other day. I guess it wouldn't be such a shock if I would have kept up with his blog.

Here he is a friend, my age, who has had HIV for nearly 10 years. HIV, to me had always been something other people get. Celebrities who made the headlines were the only face of HIV to me, or the faded news of some poor sap who ended up with it. Now HIV has a face to me. It is a face of class mate, a friend, a fraternity brother, a man who lived in a dorm a few doors down from me.

I reached out to him with a letter, offering friendship, and positive thoughts when I found out the news. To be honest I was shocked. To be honest, I didn't know what to do, I had never known anyone with HIV. To be honest, I don't know a lot about HIV. I know it some how turns into AIDs and people die from it. I don't believe their is a cure for it. It's a distant friend, and I guess I could let him fade away, but that doesn't sound like the best idea.