WARNING: This blog contains copious amounts of adult GAY material. If that's offensive to you, please leave now. All pix have been gleaned from the internets so, if you see a picture of yourself that you don't wish to have posted here, please leave a comment on the post and I will remove it with my apologies.I REPEAT: If you see a picture of yourself that you don't wish to have posted here, please leave a comment on the post and I will remove it with my apologies.
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I took my first HIV test in December of 1985; it came back positive, as I had expected. The partner I had at the time figured that we both contracted the virus a year or more earlier, when he and I were into threeways. I was fortunate to have lived until good medicines came along. (As far as I know, that partner is still alive too.) I'm no longer concerned that HIV will take me, but I'm sure COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) certainly will.
Take care and stay strong. We are with you.
ReplyDeletelove when you tell us about your life!
ReplyDeleteSimply stated, deeply felt, empathy shared. With many of us trudging through our 70s, it does become a guessing game of what will finally be our conscious undoing. You are a shining example of perseverance over pain, ageing with adversity, living for the long haul. And you do this all, thinking not only for yourself, but for all of us on a daily basis. Yesterday Pat at Big Whack Attack said "I got nothin'. Enjoy your day." Yet he managed to post a few pictures for us to enjoy. His personal health issues take him down occasionally and we understand. I'm honored to call both of you friend.
ReplyDeleteThere are many of us who lived and played in the 70s and 80s and wonder how we dodged that bullet.
ReplyDelete@ Milleson - That's kind of you to note and I thank you!
Rick, I am glad you are still with us. I lost a few co-workers to AIDS in the 90's.
ReplyDeleteWe all remember those early frightening days, besides worrying about losing friends,
we had to hear all that anti-gay crap all over the news.
Rick continued best of health---
ReplyDeleteI took my first HIV test in 1985. I was negative. Hell, I just found out about this HIV/AIDS thing. I lived a sheltered life in Sacramento. The only person I had sex with was a married man from my church. I was in the military and during my first assignment in Germany we were now required to test every year. There was drama. Many thought at the time that if you tested positive you were gay. The military was not having any of that. As long as you could do your required duties you were set to go. But I would not put it past the military to have a secret list in some file somewhere to watch these folks who tested positive. In Germany, the HIV/AIDS message was everywhere.
I took my first test in 1988. It came back negative, which surprised the hell out of me. To this day I'm amazed that my 20 years in San Francisco didn't leave me sick, dead, or arrested. Still negative after all these years, and like you, am more concerned that my respiratory system is ultimately going to be my ticket out of this life. But hey, we're still here and kicking ass, so that's gotta count for something!
ReplyDeleteEVERYONE - Thanks for your comments and stories. We all gotta keep on pluggin'!
ReplyDelete