motivation, faith, forgiveness

Hi all!! My name is Marie. I'm 49 years old and I was recently diagnosed with HIV... I look forward to supporting women everywhere!

Well, I made it to USCHA in Washington DC... I love coming to these conferences because they are so personally beneficial for me as an advocate.

When I look back over my life, it has been filled with many roadblocks, bad choices, deaths, and adversities--yet, somehow, someway, I have always found the strength to carry on.

I didn't come into that hospital wrapped in faith. I came in wrapped in symptoms, pain, and a history that made even the bravest nurses tune me out.

It was Friday, May 2, 1986, and the day started out like any other day, but it wasn't. Today would change our lives forever.

This is not just a story about illness— it's about intuition. The terrifying silence of being dismissed. And the sacred roar of deciding to save yourself.

HIV cure work is something that is beginning to fascinate me. Having the opportunity to be in spaces where this is the topic of discussion, I have learned so much about the virus.

Sharing my stories and giving courage to others like me who can relate to some of my struggles and victories is a way I can give back to a community that has literally saved my life.

"You have HIV. HIV3 to be exact." That's what they said—HIV3. I didn't even know what that meant... No one explained it. No one softened it.

Being stigmatized with the closest friends and relatives... the people you really loved and trusted. It was really hard on me... But now I stand up straight to tell the world that I'm strong... Stigma can't kill my future.