Heather's blog

MY GIRLS! I can't explain the connection and the happiness I feel when I'm around them. When I share space with them, I feel heard and held and so effortlessly it comes naturally for me to do the same...

I had the honor of presenting on one of my favorite topics, HIV and Breast/Chestfeeding, at this year's HIV Is Not a Crime Conference. As you may or may not know, I had the privilege of breastfeeding both of my babies for 14 months, each as a woman living with HIV.

I don't know what came over me. Here I am, an unsure, brand new mom living with HIV, holding my newly born baby in my arms, and something kept telling me, "Just do it. Just tell them." The nurse asked...

Today, I'm choosing to pour into myself in a way that allows me to be the best version of whoever I'm meant to be for those I love.

Following our trip to California, I continued mourning my life before HIV. In the midst of the daily funerals I would have for my "old self," I was still waiting, and in some ways hoping (praying) that this was not my reality.

I practice getting in my own way like it's an artform. Sometimes, when things seem to be going really smoothly, I experience this sense of uneasiness like I'm waiting for the next trauma to unravel in front of me like a red carpet.

I think my knees gave out and I stopped breathing all together, but it's so hard to remember what exactly happened next. I know that I asked for confirmation, "So, you're telling me that it's true… that I really do have HIV?" She replied quickly and apologetically, "Yes, I am so sorry."

I'm in a beautiful place where the snow is freshly fallen, life is everywhere, there are plenty of reasons to take the deepest breath and relax every inch of my body... but then there's that weight...

Take your time. Your life just changed in a very drastic way and all of the feelings you are feeling right now are completely valid- anger, sadness, fear- allow yourself to feel them all. Surround...

Today begins with a dance, a delicious duet between my anxious twinges and relatively dark depression. The audience on the edge of their seats... who will take the lead? Will she weep on the ground or work diligently to steady gasping breaths in the corner of the room?