2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: The Lie [View all]TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)Your patients were my friends. They were so obviously sicker than anything I'd ever seen,...they were afraid, and desperate...and sick. They were so cold; walking around with blankets. I think they knew they were dying. I didn't... Maybe I did. They had walking pneumonia and Kaposi's Sarcoma... and fear. And a sense of capitulation. They were young. I was young...
I gave them blankets and hugs...and Valium to ease their fears and hopefully to make them just a little more comfortable as they faced their mortality alone. Even with friends and family close by, we all face death alone. My friends had no family close by... they had me, and a few other friends from the gay community...
I remember Wyatt. He wanted so badly just to be home with his mother while he was sick. His family lived just one state over... He never made it home. I held him until the Valium kicked in... He died the next day.
This scourge decimated my community and in the process, the world as I had come to know it.
I hate that a politician brought all of these scars to the forefront, for what?... To pander for votes? To appeal to Reagan republicans who might be on the fence?... So shallow. So hurtful.
TYY