Thank you for sharing. Your story is my story and probably the story of every survivor in our generation. Add survivor's guilt and the traumatic stress of being demonized by our "Christian" fellow citizens who cheered while those we loved died. We are shaped by events out of our control. I will never forgive the GOP for using religion and hatred of us as a campaign "strategy" - nor will I every really forgive a single person I know that votes for those monsters.

Thank you for this post. I lost my uncle who I was closer to than anyone in the whole world at 13. I watched him suffer for four years. I was taught to not call the ambulance if he collapsed and what do not resuscitate means, because he couldn't stand the pain any longer. There was nothing to help him besides an extremely expensive cocktail of pills to drag him through each day in utter agony. He threw up a lot, and had constant diarrhea. Even though it was unnecessary, I still remember him throwing up and scrubbing the bathroom right after as he tried to not throw up again. He had no energy, but he would get down on his knees and clean everything, for me. Because he was afraid of infecting me, though we all knew it didn't work that way. His death destroyed my teens, I spiraled into darkness, destroyed my mother, my aunt. He was the heart of our family, and it was broken. A whole generation of hearts broken. Just 2 years made the difference. Had those in power allocated funds for research earlier, instead of sitting idly by as those who they deemed unworthy of life, of saving, he would still be here. He would have held my babies. He would have held my hand when I needed him most in my life and I wouldn't have been confronted with all the ugliness I world so early. I love you, I have never stopped missing you.

Not a day goes by without thinking of the Dearies I knew who perished from AIDS. We knew nothing. We were just young and having fun and as we were dancing, it all fell into ruin. I miss you all, but I am glad that you didn't live to see what has become of this country. Truly -- the good die young.

You are right, Blorgcollective, and I am a sap!!! I guess I got used to missing them, and I forgot how angry I was about how they died. You're right.