Robert Brunet

When my partner died of AIDS, the world became a maelstrom of dark emotions and platitudes. At the end of his lingering illness, what was left was fast-tracked to cremation...

I shared my HIV status with my husband on the very first day that we met. This was in 1998, and it was a risky thing to share. HIV stigma...

In 1988, I met an AIDS activist, and my life was forever changed. It was during my high school years when I first heard of GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) on...

What is the most challenging act of forgiveness you have ever had to do? I began to understand what it meant to forgive someone when I learned I was HIV...

For 30 years, I have been a caregiver to myself. I have managed doctors' appointments and treatment plans and built networks of support as a long-term survivor of HIV. But...

Over the decades, I have watched so many vibrant, young people pass away. I knew some of them, and I only saw others. Most of them disappeared and were never...

I wasn’t expecting to be diagnosed with HIV for my 30th birthday. And I certainly wasn’t planning to be under treatment for HPV-related cancer thirty years later. Yet here I...

The first time I heard the term AFRAIDS was several years before I tested positive for HIV. A friend said it was a new disease killing people. It made people...

I could not choose the time and place I became HIV positive. But I did decide when and why I would begin my treatment. I believe my ongoing participation in...

My first opportunistic infection was Kaposi Sarcoma. It was a viral cancer that created dark purple lesions across my body. In the plague years, it was also one of the...

Like everything else in life, things weren't supposed to turn out this way. In 1995 I was told to get my affairs in order. The next thing I knew, the...

Despite being HIV positive for 30 years, only recently have I processed what happened to myself and my friends. I thought that acknowledging those I had known was enough. But...

I took my first and only HIV test 3 decades ago. It saved my life, but not in the way you might be thinking. I already knew the results, even...

Ironically, I did not consider pursuing a career until I became HIV-positive. I had been very happy working front-line service-level jobs in the food and beverage industry. But something changed...

As treatment options for HIV have changed, so have my personal views evolved. When I was first diagnosed, I resisted taking AZT, and now 30 years later, I am discussing...

Years ago, after a long Mardi Gras weekend, my partner woke up with a rash on his side. Within a few hours, it changed from a series of bumps into...

I'm starting to get plans together for our upcoming Alaskan cruise. While I'm making sure I have the recommended attire and the suitable excursions planned, I know that as a...

My mother had a stroke on the morning of my 13th birthday. My father found her on the bathroom floor where she had fallen. I was the youngest child and...

I don’t remember the first time I allowed my anger to take over. But there have been too many instances not to do something about it over the years. Allowing...