Where do I start with this year of lessons and so much pain? 2018 started ok, although I never expected it to be so so hard, and I never thought that I would ever be this strong…but I am.

I must be honest, it’s been 26 years since high school and boy it’s been hard. Essays today are nothing like essays back when I went to school. We didn’t learn pathos, logos, ethos. We didn’t need to...

In just a few days I will turn 50. Years. Old. I have to spell it out like that mostly because it’s hard to fully comprehend. I realize that I am not the first to feel this way. In fact, more and more of us (women living with HIV) are doing it. It’s nuts really. And awesome.

This year has been a year of so many challenges and trials. First it was resuming back to work in Abuja and was given a letter of termination of appointment from the organization we work for. Later in the month of March I lost an Aunty--in short from March to November I lost three of my aunties and an in-law.

I have a confession, I am a medication hoarder. I first started taking medication in the early 1990s after finally finding a doctor who was willing to see me. At the time I had great health insurance, but doctor after doctor refused to see me. Much has changed since then.

Every year, World AIDS Day provides us with the opportunity to reflect on the incredible advances that we have made as a community over the last three decades and to honor the advocates and activists who have changed the course of this epidemic, including those we have lost and those who continue to tirelessly move us forward.

I write a lot about mental health because my mental illness has shaped my life into what it is today. I hear people say all the time that they wouldn’t change a thing in their past. I can say without skipping a beat, there are things that I would change.

What happens when you receive an HIV positive diagnosis?

I realized as I saw my computer screen with my grandkids, I never saw any kid grow up. Not my child, not my family’s children. I guess having the experience of being a mom I felt as if I should have had the courage to nurture, to raise a child. I put too much on my own shoulders so I can never be satisfied with the outcome. I am more of a perfectionist than I knew.

How many RedBox movies do you own? I'm a proud owner of about 6. I blame it on my ADHD. I pick up a movie, watch it and then forget. I now forbid RedBox in my house. I used to forget where I put my...