Musings and More: In Memoriam

AIDS Touches Everyone
in memoriam

If you think you're going to get through life without being touched by AIDS, you're kidding yourself. Look at the celebrities in your life, people whom you've admired in any number of fields, only to become devastated to learn that they are either HIV-positive, suffering from full-blown AIDS or dead. Then look around your neighbourhood, your church, your workplace. Finally, don't forget your family and friends; it will strike there too, when you least expect it.

HIV is an equal-opportunity disease. It does not discriminate between men, women, children or newborn babies. It strikes regardless of race, age, creed, nationality, or sexual orientation. Current estimates suggest that nearly 100,000 people in the UK and one million people in the US are now living with HIV. These statistics pale, however, beside those from Sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 25.8 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2005. In the past year alone, the epidemic has claimed the lives of two and a half million people in this region, and more than 12 million children have been orphaned by AIDS.

I never thought AIDS would touch me except in passing; I mourned for people in my own industry whose lives were sacrified to this horrific disease. Time passed and I began to mourn for people I actually knew -- among them, a dear friend. I am also painfully aware that AIDS is still the leading cause of death in my own age group.

What follows is an example of how AIDS can touch one person's life -- mine. A candle has been lit for each presence which has passed from my life. If you'd like to find out more, there are some helpful links at the bottom of this page. Pick up the torch, fight the fight, educate yourself and one another --

until there's a cure.

We see but dimly through the mists and vapors;
Amid these earthly damps
What seem to us but sad, funeral tapers
May be heaven's distant lamps.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1819-1892)

In Memoriam

Eddie C., beloved brother of my composer friend Karen
Tony C., my fun-loving buddy and co-worker
Derrick E., beloved son of Donna, brother of Ashley and friend of my friend Sue
Orrin P., trusted high school friend of my reporter friend Ruthie
Chris R., longtime friend of my dear friend Claire
James R., beloved friend and brother-in-law of my friend R.M.
Boyd S., organist with whom I attended school
Kim T., conductor/musician with whom I was acquainted

Of Loss . . . A Casualty

It's a part of life which everyone must play,
A never ending pain that will not go away;
A presence you take with you, no matter what they say,
And the way you take it with you as you go from day to day.

It's holding on to memories of good times and of bad,
And comforting the others that you know feel just as sad.
It's each breath that you feel within that tells you someone's gone
The feeling deep inside you says for them, you'll carry on . . .

In all of life's own mystery . . .
There is but one sweet penalty . . .
Of loss . . . .
Always a casualty.

~ Sarah Hastings ~

Educate Yourself

AIDS Memorial Quilt
AmFAR, American Foundation for AIDS Research
AVERT, UK information, prevention, treatment
The Body, an AIDS and HIV Information Resource
CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse
Home Access HIV Test
Project Inform

Until There's A Cure: THE BRACELET

It's the best $25 you'll ever spend.
Wear it ~~ until there's a cure.

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AIDS Touches Everyone in memoriam

In Memoriam

Educate Yourself

AIDS Touches Everyone
in memoriam