When I got pregnant with my youngest, I was the first HIV+ patient to deliver a baby at that hospital. I still had nobody to talk to.
I have been reminded of how short life can be and that we must appreciate each and every day.
I don't know how other girls like me react to stigma and injustices we suffer because of our statuses. I usually beat myself up. Sometimes, depending on the source of the stigma, I'd loathe myself.
My family know me as the Diva, the strongest HIV+ woman they've ever seen. What they don't know is what happens when I switch off the lights and close the door, I suddenly am not so strong anymore.
You know, I love the holidays, I really do. But a part of me dreads them as well.
I would like for my daughter to be able to tell her daughter that when she was a little girl, there was something called World AIDS Day, but because of brave women like us, they don't have to worry about that anymore.
So this is my first blog...ever. I've been HIV+ for more than 21 years now and an advocate for women with HIV for 16...but I've never been a blogger.