One Day A Year

Many people didn't know that today was World AIDS Day. It's not as well known or publicized as other awareness days or months. A lot of people wouldn't even know that December 1 was World AIDS Day if it weren't for a few celebrities talking about it. But I think about it every December 1. Actually I think about AIDS awareness on a lot more days than just on the first of December. I think of it because a dear friend had AIDS when he died almost twenty years ago.

My friend TH was just 28 years old when he found out he had AIDS. I had known him for about 7 years, and at the time he died, he was one of my best friends. I met him at my first real job, and we became fast friends. He was the first gay person that I'd met, and it didn't bother me; I loved him unconditionally. We both shared our love of Donna Summer, Knots Landing, and designer labels. In fact, he was the first person to give me a bottle of Calvin Klein's Obsession perfume. We went to concerts together, hung out and were great friends. He confided in me and told me things that he couldn't tell his family. But there was one thing he couldn't bear to tell me - the fact that he had just discovered he had AIDS.

Just a few days after TH found out he had AIDS, his little Ford Escort was found abandoned on the Second Street bridge, and passersby said they saw him jump off the bridge. It was wintertime, and unfortunately for his family and friends, they went months without knowing for sure what had happened. We all pretty much knew, though. A couple of months later as spring was nearing, they found his body in the Ohio River. The autopsy showed that he had AIDS - something none of us knew.

At the funeral home, I'll never ever forget something his mother told me. She said "He really loved you because you always loved him unconditionally."

As I said, it's been almost twenty years since TH died, but whenever I hear talk of AIDS awareness on the news or hear about some famous person that just found out they were HIV positive, I can't help but think of my friend TH. I think of him a lot of other times too, not just one day a year.