Before They Knew What "The Virus" Was

I have a long story. I believe I've had HIV since 1976.

I was previously an IV drug user, and the people I knew were getting sick. Some I went to see in the hospital. They were losing weight and dying.

How do I know?

Losing my friend to a virus in 1980

In 1980, I ran into my friend's wife who told me my friend had passed away from some kind of virus. He was the last person I shared a needle with and I still didn't put it together.

I lost my family and found out I was living with HIV

In 1985, my 3-year-old daughter passed away. They told me her death was because of something called AIDS. After her death, I married the love of my life, a different woman than the one I shared a daughter with. Then, my wife passed away from something called spinal meningitis.

3 years later, I got sick. I saw the same nurse that took care of my wife. She told me my wife had passed away from AIDS. When I told her she didn't, she started teaching me what HIV was. My wife got meningitis because of a weak immune system.

I did that to my daughter and my wife, and I didn't know.

Raising a family today

Since then, I've raised 9 kids as a single parent. My oldest daughter knows everything. She says, "Dad, when are you going to forgive yourself? Look what you did for your kids. 7 are college graduates."

How do I forgive taking my kids' mother from them?

With all that said, I survived cancer in 2015, meningitis in 2016, and a coma and a heart operation in 2022. I feel that these things happened to me so I can let other people know. If a higher power lets me tell part of my story, it must be for a reason. A way to let others know you can live a good life with HIV. Even with HIV, I have been. And I am still going through.