I did not realize today is World AIDS Day until I read about it at Blue Witch's blog. A friend of mine, Antonio Lopez, died of AIDS in 1987 and today, while looking through old photos, I found a Polaroid that he took of me. I first met Antonio one summer when my mother and I spent a weekend at his place on Fire Island. We went to the tea dance the first afternoon we got there and the place was a sea of men. It was there that I heard the first whispered rumors about a disease that was killing gay men. Now, I think about all the men who were there that day and wonder who is still alive. I have not thought of Antonio in years but when I do I remember a sweet, talented man who loved his daughter very much. He was a good man who did not deserve to die so young.
BW also mentions the Aids Memorial Quilt. Antonio is represented by one of the squares in block 00070.
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