oh I am so sad!

[KnottedYet]

(((((((Brandi and DH))))))

A family friend died of AIDS, he's buried near my dad's grave. I always light a candle to set at his stone and care for his gravestone every time I go to care for my dad's.

Little things like that can help, and even be a comfort to think about. Big things like volunteering as a test subject for HIV vaccines can also help. Wearing a red ribbon. Posting to TE so we all think about it. Many things.

Also, consider getting tested for HIV yourself so you can tell someone who is fearful that *you've* done it, and there's no social stigma. I get tested for everything at the end of relationships, and one of my patients was actually comforted by the fact that I had been tested for HIV and wasn't immediately branded as a freak or something, and was more encouraged to get tested themself. (many people are afraid of having the test in their medical record or of getting the test at all. The more of us who have been tested, the less social baggage there will be on getting tested in the first place.) I have several very healthy patients who are HIV positive. They've been kept from developing AIDS because they had testing early on and early drug intervention. Many many people are HIV positive, but don't know it yet. Encouraging the testing is part of how I honor our family friend.