40 million gone


It’s World Aids Day.  Still.  The only perfect thing I ever did was care for my best friend Michael who died on my birthday in 1990 right in the midst of the raging war.  He was sick for five years and close by, a floor above me on Grove Street. He kept his dry humor until the very end. For some reason I can't recall, we were obsessed with Scorsese's Bible movie. One day I walked up to his hospital bed and said "how are you my last temptation of Christ?" And, hardly able to speak, he answered "holier than thou." His mother visited during his final days in Saint Vincents. “Oh, son, I just had lunch in the cafeteria and ate the worst hamburger I ever had.” His response - “why?” I was on a GMHC buddy team.  Ten of us twelve members - along with all of our clients - died.  My friend Jim and I thought maybe it was because we smoked. Was a dark time. Glad it’s gone. Kinda. For me anyway.

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Anonymous said…
The gold leaf on the picture
December 1, 2022 at 7:36 PM
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