Today is World AIDS Day as most of you may know. For the longest time, I'd heard of the disease, but it never really hit close to home until I got to know someone who was living with and evetually died of the virus. In my sophmore year of high school, I was introduced to my friend Sheena's Aunt Gina*. I'd heard stories about Auntie Gina and her wild ways, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. She was the most vivacious woman I'd ever met. Loud, brash, and unapologetic in her ways. She reminded me of the characters that actress Jenifer Lewis tends to play.

Whenever Auntie G was around, she would always sit Sheena and I down to have what she called "fireside chats". These chats ran the gamut from idiotic pop culture discussions to more important things like guys & sex. I can still hear Auntie G saying, "Tell him to wrap that pickle up, guhl!" or "Just because he looks clean, does not mean HE IS clean!" Even though Sheena and I repeatedly told Auntie G that we weren't engaging in any sexual activities, she maintained that we needed to be safe in all that we did.

One day, Sheena called me bawling her eyes out. When she finally calmed down, she told me that Auntie G was in the hospital. Gina had passed out when they were shopping at the mall and had to be rushed to the hospital. Sheena and I had no idea that Auntie G had full blown AIDS at this point in time; so we were worried sick about her and wished for a speedy recovery. Auntie G remained in the hospital for about two weeks that first time. She was out for about a month before she went back again.

She was worse for the wear this time. Sheena and I kinda got the idea that something was up, but didn't know how to broach it. Sheena's mom was being really secretive, so we tried to come up with what we thought was wrong. After much research (aka us coming up with scenarious on our own) we decided that Auntie G had cancer. The next time we went to visit Auntie G in the hospital, we asked her why didn't she tell us she had cancer? I'd lost 2 of 4 grandparents to cancer already, so I thought I was prepared. That's when Auntie G dropped a bombshell, that she did not have cancer, but was suffering from full blown AIDS.

She told us her story and made us understand why she constantly drilled it in out heads to be safe. I was flabbergasted. My only experience of knowing someone with AIDS was through Pedro Zamora and The Real World: San Francisco. I didn't really know much about the disease except that it was deadly. After hearing the news, Sheena & I were devistated. We could not wrap our minds around this at all. Two months later, we were burying Auntie G.

To date, Auntie G is the only person that I knew personally that was affected by HIV/AIDS, but it hasn't stopped my advocacy. I need to step it back up, actually. I've been slacking in current years due to my breast cancer volunteerism taking over.