Comments on: And Still The Band Plays On… http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/ Firedoglake weblog Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:43:05 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Christy Hardin Smith http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402522 Christy Hardin Smith Sat, 02 Dec 2006 01:03:46 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402522 <p>Strategerie at 125 — now you did it, I’m crying again. *sniffle* Thanks for that.</p> Strategerie at 125 — now you did it, I’m crying again. *sniffle* Thanks for that.

]]> By: Strategerie http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402501 Strategerie Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:52:07 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402501 <p>gabriel_is,</p> <p>I’m thinking about you today, and also hoping that we have both you and your mom with us for many years to come.</p> <p>I used to work for a home IV infusion therapy company that had many, many HIV and AIDS patients on service. My co-worker and friend Dyer was a nurse. He would work with the sick and the dying day in and day out. Imagine how crushing for all of us to find out that he, too, had AIDS. I can’t even imagine how he could continue going out in the night to sit at the bedside of someone who was suffering and dying, knowing he might have the same fate. Those were the days of Compound Q, and drug cocktails were barely being talked about. Some brides have a special trinket or holy medal sewn into their gown. I had a red ribbon for him. He was too sick to come to my wedding. He’s been gone almost fifteen years, and I think about him every day.</p> <p>My husband was raised by his uncle and his uncle’s partner, Steven and Stephen. We lost them within a year of each other. Steven was bombastic, and could have quite a temper. At the same time, he took in a little boy from an abusive home and raised him as his own. I’m sure Steven is telling God his recipe for raspberry tarts is incorrect as we speak. Stephen was one of the kindest, most gentle people I have ever known. I loved his dry sense of humor. When he was in the hospice, I had deadlines at work and wasn’t able to drop by for a few days. I walked through the door into the room shortly afterwards, Stephen fixed me with a look and intoned, “I thought you were dead.”</p> <p>The river of tears I’ve cried over these three men are a drop in the bucket in comparison to the hundreds others have lost, and the agony worldwide due to AIDS.</p> <p>I wanted to remember them today. If I speak their names, they live on.</p> <p>-S</p> gabriel_is,

I’m thinking about you today, and also hoping that we have both you and your mom with us for many years to come.

I used to work for a home IV infusion therapy company that had many, many HIV and AIDS patients on service. My co-worker and friend Dyer was a nurse. He would work with the sick and the dying day in and day out. Imagine how crushing for all of us to find out that he, too, had AIDS. I can’t even imagine how he could continue going out in the night to sit at the bedside of someone who was suffering and dying, knowing he might have the same fate. Those were the days of Compound Q, and drug cocktails were barely being talked about. Some brides have a special trinket or holy medal sewn into their gown. I had a red ribbon for him. He was too sick to come to my wedding. He’s been gone almost fifteen years, and I think about him every day.

My husband was raised by his uncle and his uncle’s partner, Steven and Stephen. We lost them within a year of each other. Steven was bombastic, and could have quite a temper. At the same time, he took in a little boy from an abusive home and raised him as his own. I’m sure Steven is telling God his recipe for raspberry tarts is incorrect as we speak. Stephen was one of the kindest, most gentle people I have ever known. I loved his dry sense of humor. When he was in the hospice, I had deadlines at work and wasn’t able to drop by for a few days. I walked through the door into the room shortly afterwards, Stephen fixed me with a look and intoned, “I thought you were dead.”

The river of tears I’ve cried over these three men are a drop in the bucket in comparison to the hundreds others have lost, and the agony worldwide due to AIDS.

I wanted to remember them today. If I speak their names, they live on.

-S

]]> By: Kathryn in MA http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402479 Kathryn in MA Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:42:11 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402479 <p>Love to you, Gabriel_is</p> Love to you, Gabriel_is

]]> By: Christy Hardin Smith http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402329 Christy Hardin Smith Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:49:59 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402329 <p>Priscilla at 128 — hugs, hon. Haven’t seen you for a bit, and ’tis lovely to see you in this thread, sad though it is. I see your candle, and raise my glass in salute. Wish I were there to give you a hug in person.</p> Priscilla at 128 — hugs, hon. Haven’t seen you for a bit, and ’tis lovely to see you in this thread, sad though it is. I see your candle, and raise my glass in salute. Wish I were there to give you a hug in person.

]]> By: Priscilla, Queen of the Beach http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402325 Priscilla, Queen of the Beach Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:42:12 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402325 <p>25 years. My own generation of gay men decimated; the difficulty of walking the world without those who know our stories and our character so well. Me, burned out emotionally, spiritually, and physically by uncounted hours of ACT UP!, Queer Nation, and other activism. Gabriel_is inspires me to take a deep breath and calm myself down and remember WHY I did/do these things. All I can offer right now is a small tribute to those I loved and will always miss:<br /> CeCe, the campiest queen in town;<br /> Michael, whose beauty was never dimmed;<br /> Bill, whose generosity of spirit lingers on;<br /> Richard, whose style remains;<br /> Joe, whose humor is legendary;<br /> Billy, whose friends love him still;<br /> Ron, whose strength lives on;<br /> Mike, the first in my locale;<br /> Phillip, who gathered so many of us and taught us so much about living while we cared for him in his dying;<br /> Rick, whose mother still talks about the loving care of strangers that sustained her those many years ago;<br /> Myke, who never left the closet;<br /> and so many more that I must stop before I drown in that loss again.<br /> To all of you, I light a candle this night, and I shout “Namaste!” I recognize the god-ness in all of you. And I say, these many years after your passing: You are not forgotten. We will fight on….</p> 25 years. My own generation of gay men decimated; the difficulty of walking the world without those who know our stories and our character so well. Me, burned out emotionally, spiritually, and physically by uncounted hours of ACT UP!, Queer Nation, and other activism. Gabriel_is inspires me to take a deep breath and calm myself down and remember WHY I did/do these things. All I can offer right now is a small tribute to those I loved and will always miss:
CeCe, the campiest queen in town;
Michael, whose beauty was never dimmed;
Bill, whose generosity of spirit lingers on;
Richard, whose style remains;
Joe, whose humor is legendary;
Billy, whose friends love him still;
Ron, whose strength lives on;
Mike, the first in my locale;
Phillip, who gathered so many of us and taught us so much about living while we cared for him in his dying;
Rick, whose mother still talks about the loving care of strangers that sustained her those many years ago;
Myke, who never left the closet;
and so many more that I must stop before I drown in that loss again.
To all of you, I light a candle this night, and I shout “Namaste!” I recognize the god-ness in all of you. And I say, these many years after your passing: You are not forgotten. We will fight on….

]]> By: mc http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402318 mc Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:31:53 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402318 <p>gabriel_is:</p> <p>I’m glad you’re alive, too. Thank you for your words.</p> gabriel_is:

I’m glad you’re alive, too. Thank you for your words.

]]> By: JoyB http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402288 JoyB Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:09:39 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402288 <p>Gabriel_is IS. And we’re so thankful, too.</p> Gabriel_is IS. And we’re so thankful, too.

]]> By: T- http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402287 T- Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:09:25 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402287 <p>gabriel_is<br /> You know that feeling when you feel that you can’t swallow and your eyes start watering?<br /> I hope you do.<br /> I just got that. And, I usually hate the reasons that cause me to be overcome in that way, but I love that it makes me realize that I have not succumbed to the numbness that our world increasingly demands of us for survival.</p> <p>Thank you for sharing a tiny part of your world with the folks at firedoglake and allowing all of us to feel some of the raw emotion that connects.</p> gabriel_is
You know that feeling when you feel that you can’t swallow and your eyes start watering?
I hope you do.
I just got that. And, I usually hate the reasons that cause me to be overcome in that way, but I love that it makes me realize that I have not succumbed to the numbness that our world increasingly demands of us for survival.

Thank you for sharing a tiny part of your world with the folks at firedoglake and allowing all of us to feel some of the raw emotion that connects.

]]> By: angie http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402273 angie Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:56:43 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402273 <p>gabriel_is</p> <p>thank you for sharing and I am sorry for your loss and your struggle.</p> <p>thanks for reminding us that those we love are our nourishment and source of hope.</p> <p>blessings.</p> gabriel_is

thank you for sharing and I am sorry for your loss and your struggle.

thanks for reminding us that those we love are our nourishment and source of hope.

blessings.

]]> By: scarecrow http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402233 scarecrow Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:23:15 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/01/and-still-the-band-plays-on/#comment-402233 <p>We are all lucky to have you, gabriel_is</p> <p>Thank you for the moving reminder.</p> We are all lucky to have you, gabriel_is

Thank you for the moving reminder.

]]>