A Letter to HIV from Mom

This is a big moment for my mom, we don't normally talk about HIV and when she offered to write a letter to HIV out of the blue I was very humbled and offered her to publish it for her.  I know she would love your feedback and support as she continues to work through the emotions of her son living with HIV.  Feel free to comment as I know she'll be following this post.  - Thanks Mom - your son, Tommy.

A Letter to HIV from Mom

Hey there….you…..that’s right I’m talking to you with the big red HIV letters.  Didn’t think I was noticing you. Think again!!!

You just think you’re so sneaky wandering around inside those who don’t even realize that you came to visit, and usually when it’s already too late.  And the wonderful gifts that you bring along…. Karposi’s Sarcoma, pneumonia, extreme cases of diarrhea and vomiting… WOW!!!!

I just love giving gifts like that to people I love. And let us not forget the possible end gift…DEATH!!!! That’s a good one.

JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE????? Don’t you realize that the human race has no want or need of you, and yet you still persist in trying to hang around doing your slow & painful dirty work. Do you have any idea how many people you have hurt, how many hearts you have broken, and how many families you have destroyed????

Some people say that you are a wrath of God. But the God that I love & believe in would not send you to wreak havoc upon his people, especially the young & innocent. Take poor Ryan White for instance, what was that all about? A boy from a middle class family became a superstar certainly not by his own choosing. Thanks to you, people mocked him, feared him & hated him and then you had the nerve to take his life at such an early age and leave his mother without a son , devastated, and broken hearted for the rest of her life.  Nice going HIV, are you proud of yourself???

Now, let’s talk about me for a moment, yes, me a mother with fear in her heart and tears in her eyes.  Thanks so much for coming into my world! I got the news of your arrival one night about 10 years ago. You just had to take my son too, haven’t you had enough sons and daughters already?  I did not bring my son into this world only to watch him suffer with your torturous effects, having to worry about him taking his medications every day,  hoping that every time he sees his Infectious Disease Dr., that the news of his stats are good. Try sitting on the phone with the news that your only son is in quarantine and no one knows what’s wrong with him. I know, you just wanted to remind him I’m Still Here!! So what are your plans for my son? Up till now he’s been able to walk along side of you and beat the odds, but what will tomorrow or next week, month or year bring? Or will you strike again and destroy the only son I have?

Then, there is my friend who you visited on behalf of her cheating husband. I’ll never forget the morning I also got the same call. She had no idea you were hanging around till she saw her Dr. and you were with her for a few years before she discovered your presence. Maybe her cheating husband deserved you, but not her. She was a good faithful wife and mother, and oh yes, the scare of her two daughters possibly having you too. Geesh… you just don’t quit.

You are a God awful creature, a monster inside. Where did you come from, and why are you here? How many more people have to become and ill and die before you just give up and go away. Medical science will get rid of you once and for all one day, and I pray that I’m alive to see that happen. There’s nothing I would like more than to dance on YOUR grave. Go away HIV and take all your minions with you. Please leave the human race alone, we have enough problems, stop making us worry, stop spending our money and STOP HURTING THOSE WE LOVE!

P.S.  Did I forget to mention that my son’s stats are good and undetectable??? You can be controlled. Ha, how that make you feel?

MOM