Thirty Years

We are all God's children, not just some of us.
Aids turns thirty today, and we have made a dent. A dent, is not big enough, we have to keep up our fight.
I have worked with aids patients, for many years. The suburbs and a friend, caused me to "do something!"
When HIV was new, and aids whispered about in alleys, I had friends that had aids. I walked in many a aids walk , with kids in tow, never afraid. My Stepford neighbors would say, "Aren't you scared someone will touch your children?" " Oh, I hope they are touched! in a million ways!" One day, some friends and I had returned from a market day, and we all had to pee-pee. Seems like an innocent story??not when one of those friends had full blown aids. A neighbor said, " You did not let them use the bathroom, did you?" "ARE you kidding me, educate yourself!"
My friend in Florida, lost his wife and child, and lives with HIV, he is my hero and love. I work for him.
Our church had an aids group, which was a great surprise, since they shunned gay people.. So I joined. Feeding aids patients, visiting them, Mother Theresa here I come.
My first visit to introduce myself, and see what they needed was Rwanda. I thought I may, not live. Of course these people were poor, but in Alpharetta Georgia, this poor. Lord help us, our backyards. I walked in and the man was laying in the bed, in a fetal position with roaches all over the bed, the wall, the floors. I asked his wife what I could bring them, and she gave me a list of items. I asked when I could bring these things back, and we set up days and time. I then returned to Timothy and said, that I would be helping him, but we had to do something about the roaches, or I was going to throw the food at the curb!! He smiled, he did not know me yet!! I sat on the filthy bed, and looked him in the yellow of his eyes, "I'm not kidding, this is no way to live or die, this changes today!" His wife agreed that I could purchase roach motels, it was a start. In two days, I went back, still parking out front, so I could run to the car, in case of drive by shooting!!! The house was cleaner, and Timothy was sitting up in the bed, not a roach to be seen, and eating some. I went to his house for the summer, fall and winter and had a Christmas photo of the two of us, which one day I will find and post!!! All my children met and brought food to Timothy, until he moved up north to die with his mom and dad. I think his wife went to jail for drugs, and he had to go home. He called me several months later, knocking on deaths door, to thank me, for touching him. Not touching his heart, touching his body. Holding his hand in that roach infested death hole, looking at this drug addict, black young man as one of God's children. Thirty years later, and we still have to touch people, we must. Aids, Diabetes, Mental Illness, Cancer. We are required to make a difference. Just ask Timothy!!!